


Vessels

by aphkrasia



Category: Avatar (2009)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-10 15:12:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 49
Words: 99,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13504143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aphkrasia/pseuds/aphkrasia
Summary: Hayley is a xenobiologist and avatar driver. Onui'lk is a member of the Eastern Ikran Clan. Their experiences together and apart will play a crucial role in the events after the assault on the Tree of Souls. Sequel with heavy reference to past events.





	1. Prologue: Psionics

**Author's Note:**

> This is a second draft of a series originally published on Fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6112668/1/Vessels. I will be trying to revise and post a new chapter every 1/2 weeks, with an .epub version compiled when I'm finished posting the whole story.

Prologue: Psionics

In the link there is no capacity for thought, but some of us still remember somehow.

I've heard some people describe it as traveling through a nerve, like an electrical impulse. Others see strange colours and sounds, floating and morphing together into groups of meaningless patterns. Or chaos, or both.

The mind, our minds, travel through the air on a series of carefully calculated oscillations, a signal that captures everything that is supposed to be us, moving it from one brain to another. I've always wondered if it's really me waking up on the other side. While I'm exploring the forest, walking along the avatar compound, or collecting samples, my body and brain is still in the link unit. As an avatar, I don't belong to myself anymore.

In the first few years of the project they used to do continuous sync, transmitting each firing neuron to the avatar as it occurred. But the farther you got out, the more static you encountered. It would start off as small tics, in the hands and face, and if you were stupid enough to keep going you might lose the signal altogether. Then the viperwolves would close in, devouring your body before the marines could arrive on the scene.

Now the connection goes both ways. In the initial download your brain state is copied, thought for thought, into the avatar. From there the link mainly reverses direction, keeping your human mind informed of the brain state in your Avatar, encoding new memories in your human tissue. That way, if you get lost in the Hallelujah Mountains, the worst thing that might happen is that you have to get back in range before coming back.

But, in other words, things can get out of sync. And when that happens, which one is really you?

Does a new person form behind this sapphire skin?

It's concepts like these that make you want to believe in a soul or spirit, something that stays intact which you travel between your two bodies. All I know is, when I lose consciousness in the link unit I gain it again in the avatar compound. Maybe consciousness is the key, what keeps us from becoming two people. Let's hope so.

The fact that some people experience strange things while traveling through the link doesn't help the case against the spiritual. I've seen it myself once in awhile, if you can describe it as seeing. It's like going to sleep – when your thoughts start to fragment and you start experiencing the early hallucinations that blur the line between sleep and wakefulness. Images and sounds start flashing at you in the dark.

It's like that, except there isn't any darkness, and the world explodes into a cacophony instead of organizing itself into a dream.

None of the scientists here, myself included, understand what happens during the transmission. My very unscientific guess is that, traveling as a wave, the other waves rub off on you somehow, making new ripples in your experience. I’m somehow comforted that no one else has come up with any better explanation.

I wonder what it's like traveling in the wire, Pandorian style. The na'vi call it  _ passing through the eye of Eywa _ . I remember first hearing about it, and experiencing just a taste, at one of Dr. Augustine's lectures in the avatar compound. Dr. Augustine's line of expertise was xenobiology, so a lot of people criticized her for liking plants more than people. I found it interesting that the people who made those kinds of comments arrived after the incident where a handful of na’vi children were gunned down at Grace’s school. Things like that can kill a good portion of your goodwill. 

Running through almost all of Pandora's vegetation, with perhaps the exception of unicellular organisms, is an interconnected system of nerves and neurons. No one plant has a brain of its own, but the mass of life on Pandora as a whole has more connections between individual organisms then the synaptic connections of a human brain. In short, Pandora could be, probably is, far more intelligent than us.

Pandorian biointelligence is still in the theoretical stages, and the process of analysis takes even longer when samples and data has to be shipped to another planet five years away. That's not to say that we don't have the resources to analyze our own findings, but everything has to be submitted, and approved, for more funding to come our way. Always demonstrating our worth.

When Dr. Augustine explained her findings in the jungle and experiences with the Omaticaya clan, I found the idea of a shared consciousness intriguing, but it was her demonstration that solidified the presence of what the na'vi call  _ Eywa _ in my mind.

"Everyone gather around this tree."

We left the avatar compound in the afternoon and followed a dirt path into the jungle for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Far enough in the jungle to see some of the more interesting specimens, but close enough to the compound to avoid the biggest predators, who for the most part had learned to stay away from the gun turrets mounted on the compound walls.

The tree was the largest in the near vicinity. Trees on Pandora seemed more alive than the ones I’d read about back home, their trunks coated with moss and other organisms, bioluminescent vines hanging from their branches. Seven of us gathered around the tree, sweating even in light clothing. The aroma of rich earth filled my nostrils, with a hint of a metallic tang that was alien to me.

_ I wonder if I'm sweating back home, too. _

I knelt by the base of the tree and saw small, milky pink tendrils emerging from the gnarled roots as they plunged into the earth. Reaching out, I ran my azure fingers over the nearest growths. I felt a strange prickling in them, like static.

"Our instincts, when we encounter something new," Dr. Augustine said, "are to try to understand it in terms of all our senses. Our senses are our only sources of information about the world – otherwise, we are completely self-contained." I watched her walking around the tree, addressing my colleagues. Her wine-coloured STANFORD tank top, which used to drape over her hips when she wore it on her body, barely made it a few inches above her avatar’s midriff. Her cargo shorts must have been custom-made. I watched her tail whip from side to side as she walked until she turned to look at me. I met Dr. Augustine’s glance, and a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, acknowledging me.

"Almost every single organism that has evolved on Pandora," she continued, wooden beads in her hair clicking as she walked past, "Has developed a new way to gather information about the world. When we think that our senses are deceiving us, we often turn to another person to confirm what we have experienced. We try to ask as many people as possible if what we've seen is what we think we've seen, what we've heard, and so on. The principle behind this is simple; the more senses we question, the clearer the picture of reality that emerges.

"Turning to as many sources of information as possible in order to construct reality allows an intelligent organism to create an accurate model of the world. In doing so, that organism can avoid dangers and find benefits like food and shelter, things that contribute to survival. As organisms become more intelligent, more complex models must be constructed. It follows logically that more mistakes can also be made.

"What if, instead of trying to collaborate with the other intelligences around you, you could become a part of a greater intelligence? What if you could tap into a great database of experience that was accessed directly from your brain? Imagine how much more efficient that could be than any of the resources humans and other earth-dwelling species currently have."

“Like the internet,” I said.

Dr. Augustine stopped. “Close, King. We’re still not embedded within the internet. And there are no computer servers on Pandora.”

I looked around, and noticed some skeptical looks coming from around me. Li, a private assigned to our protection by Quartich, gave me a knowing nod. I focused my attention back on Dr. Augustine as she knelt by the roots of the tree.

"Just follow my lead," Dr. Augustine insisted, and felt for the single braid reaching down her back. Taking the end between her fingers, she brushed it along the tendrils sprouting from the roots of the tree. Following her actions, I ran my hand down my avatar's queue, reaching around until I had the end in my hand, in front of me. I reached down and held it against the root.

"Don't be alarmed, you may feel a little disoriented at first," Dr. Augustine cautioned.

I watched the sinewy neural tentacles emerge, outstretched, from within the nest of hair. The braid protected what was essentially an antenna. The na'vi feel about a naked queue the same way humans feel about naked genitalia; it is their most private of appendages.

The tendrils caught together, tentatively as first, and then intertwined. I felt the same prickle of neural electricity, this time in my brain. It was slightly painful, but I barely registered the sensation before my entire mind was flooded with images, sounds, and feelings.

_ I was seeing the tree from all angles _ , and I realized that I was looking at it through the eyes of everyone around me. As for what we were thinking, I couldn't decide whether I know what everyone else was thinking or that I was simply now part of everyone. Beyond my colleagues there was more too, as I stretched my senses out into the roots and beyond, into the other plants. I began to feel like I was losing my sense of self. I became inundated with the flow of knowledge and sensation coming from the jungle around me. Frightened, I quickly withdrew. My vision narrowed until I was only seeing with my own eyes, and the thoughts of the others stopped echoing in my own head.

I emerged from the link to see that everyone was in shock, tugging their queues from the tree.

"I believe that the activity is localized, to an extent, due to the sheer distances that information must travel in a system the size of a planet," Dr. Augustine said as we all tried to compose ourselves. She noticed all the looks of confusion, and smirked.

"The na'vi train themselves to sort through the barrage of information at a very young age. It takes a high degree of concentration. I urge you all to keep practicing to we can better understand the nature of this biointelligence."

"Did anyone see Eywa?" Li joked.

Dr. Augustine's mouth formed a thin line as she looked at the avatar had spoken.

"Back to the compound, everyone," she said curtly, "It's starting to get dark. Meet me in the conference room after dinner. I want everyone to vlog their experience today."

As Dr. Augustine stormed off down the dirt path, I heard a snicker behind me. Li nudged my arm and I looked at him.

“Uptight bitch," he muttered. Li's avatar had been engineered recently, and had a smoother blend of human and na'vi features than mine. It still looked like him, though, his asian features apparent in the contours of his face.

"Li, don’t be an idiot," I snapped. "Keep it to yourself."

"If you were paying attention when we all mindfucked each other back there," Li snapped, "You would know that I don't have any problems with the na'vi belief. Do you really think I would spend five years of my life in cryosleep to study a group of insane aliens? You both need to relax."

I shook my head and sighed, running my fingers through my hair. I wore it loose, like all the other avatars. It would be an insult to wear our hair in the style of the People, since none of us had been accepted as one of them. Except maybe Augustine, to a degree. A little na'vi girl, Neytiri, had given her beads to wear.

"You're right. I'm just a bit freaked out from…that, I guess." I finally said, giving the tree a meaningful look. "There's a lot of tension between us and the Omaticaya nowadays. Even the smallest thing we say could set them off."

"It's ok," Li said, touching my shoulder again. His na'vi body, stripped to the waist in the heat, made him look leaner, more sinewy. "They've never let me come near them. Not even close."

"They haven't let me come close in years," I replied.

I looked into the forest, wondering if there were Omaticaya watching us at this very moment.

"I wanted to help them."

"If we were really trying to help them, we would leave," Li said.

"Do you really feel that way?"

"Maybe. But don't tell Grace."

I nodded. The sun was beginning to set. The bioluminescence of the forest began to gave off the faintest glow. In the twilight, I could hear the cries of viperwolves.

"We have to go," I said.

He nodded, and we started down the path after the others.

I couldn't help but think of our conversation as I leapt into the control room at Hell's Gate with the others, assault rifle pointed at the head of RDA administrator Parker Selfridge.   
  



	2. Chapter 1: Loose Ends

Chapter One: Loose Ends

 

It was as if the sun had fallen into the earth. The explosion rocked human and na’vi alike who were in the heat of the final battle for the planet Pandora. 

Wings flaring, a dark ikran recoiled in mid-air, causing its female na'vi rider to cling to its twisting neck. The pair fell backwards through the air in a flurry of leathery skin.

"Tswayon, Eskareil!" she cried hoarsely, and together they righted themselves, wings pumping desperately.

The boiling shockwave from the blast pounded them, driving them upwards. Fighting against the wind, the na’vi crouched and he narrowed into an arrowhead. The wall of air threatened to knock them over again. Onui'lk/Eskareil held together as one as it screamed all around them. Through squinted eyes, they could see the human flying machines rocking with the blast. They had been mowing down their forces, and Jakesully could only do so much to direct the na’vi to avoid falling in a hailstorm of bullets.

When it was over, the ikran opened his wings up into a level glide, catching the wind currents. The sun was rising – an enormous ball of fire was lifting up in front of them on a pillar of smoke, into the sky. Onui'lk could only watch, golden eyes widened in horror, mouth open in disbelief.

_ Not the Tree of Souls... _

She had heard what the sky people were capable of, but never could she have imagined the reality of the explosion that had been caused by the human’s main airship falling from the sky. She muttered a short prayer to Ey'wa under her breath, forcing down tears. If they didn’t beat the humans back, they could lose everything - even still was this worth it. 

Onu shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking these thoughts. She found her warrior’s centre of calm again, and prepared to return to the fray.

The ship had blown a gaping hole in the forest, and now the fires were beginning to spread outwards. She watched as the ikran summoned by Ey'wa swooped among the flames, fanning them out with their own wings.

Urging Eskareil to fly faster, Onui'lk swept her gaze over the horizon, looking for the Tree of Souls and the na'vi clustered around it in prayer. Flying over the broken swirls of magnetized rock, squinting through the smoke, she was finally able to spot the faint glow of the Tree of Souls. She whooped, raising her bow in the air. The humans had not been able to destroy it – perhaps they had won, after all! 

She saw that beneath them, in the rainforest, the lightning snaps of gunfire were beginning to cease. Concentrating her sight on the forest floor beneath the canopy, she watched the flow of humans and machines slow, then stop, then begin to change direction.

Onui'lk guided her companion forward. They began to circle the monstrous crater as fire and smoke billowed into the sky. The heat from the flames washed over them, nearly unbearable in the jungle climate. The fire was beginning to dim from around the hole in the earth, a smoky scar emerging. She urged Eskareil to go closer.

_ Where is Jakesully?  _ Onu had lost sight of the dreamwalker who had tamed the great  _ toruk _ , larger than any banshee, after he had taken down the largest airship. Had he been consumed by the blaze? And his mate, Neytiri - she had disappeared into the underbrush near the beginning of the battle, chased by a helicopter.

As they slowly spiralled, Onu could catch glimpses of the na'vi surrounding bands of human soldiers, shoving them and binding their arms. As she turned once more around the smoke column, she saw a great palulukan, dark and catlike, running through the forest with a streak of blue on its back, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth. 

_ A na’vi made tsaheylu with a palulukan? _

Onu saw other animals, 'angtsìk with their great hammerheads bashing to and fro, and nantang, smaller but ferocious with their teeth and claws, battling the last strugglers. Above and behind her, in the floating mountains, a great flock of wild mountain ikran mingled with the other warriors. 

Onu'lk was of the Eastern Sea Clan. Their leader had gone with Jakesully into battle, along with all the warriors of their clan. Soon into the battle Onu had seen her red-painted chieftess fall out of the sky, along with her mount. She dove after them but was not fast enough. Rider and ikran crashed into the forest to the floor below. By the time she pulled out of the dive and looked at her surroundings, she was far out of the range of battle. She had wept for the loss of their matriarch, then swung high into the mountains once more, bow readied.

Now that the battle was over, she plunged once more into the forest, looking for survivors. She closed her eyes. All ikran had two sets of eyes. The first was for seeing light and colour, and they saw movement best. The second, smaller eye, was for seeing the heat of prey. It was more difficult to perceive living bodies in the steaming heat of the jungle, and Onu tried to close off the distractions coming from her own eyes, which would interfere with Eskareil's abilities.

Bodies both na'vi and human choked rivers, lay sprawled over plants and rocks and underneath pa'li. There were small fires everywhere from fallen wreckage of the air battle above. She had not seen the small fires up above - the canopy had given way to the debris without breaking, camouflaging the destruction of the forest below. The huntress/ikran pair wove in and out of trees, skimming over rocks and rivers.

Through Eskareil's eyes, she saw the dying bodies dimming as they cooled, and moved on. Most of the survivors has crawled, limped or had been carried away, so it seemed. Eskareil spotted a dim spark ahead at last, and together they slowed. With a swift beating of wings, they alighted on the forest floor.

Onu sniffed, and her nose suddenly filled with the stench of burning flesh and rotting sulfurous plants, a smell she had detected before in the air battle when the human weapons had been deployed. Before she disengaged her neural whip from Eskareil, she saw the reflection of herself in his eyes. The purple, blue and white lines painted on the curves of her body and face were streaked with sweat and blood. The feathers in her braided hair were tattered, but the beaded costume that covered her chest and wrapped around her torso seemed to be more or less intact. She delinked, and Eskareil fluttered his wings and shook his head.

" _ Wait here. _ " She said.

She stalked through the undergrowth, bow readied, crouching low. She had seen what a bullet could do, and had no desire to encounter a living human soldier without the advantage of her ikran. Those who had fought this battle on the ground had been unspeakably brave – she would forever hold the deepest respect for the warriors of the Clan of the Pa'li.

Whoever lay ahead smelled like a na'vi, but another odor pierced her nostrils and she was wary. She lifted the tendrils of a nearby vine, and saw the lithe blue body. Covered in human clothing caked in dried blood, it lay sprawled at the base of a tree among several other corpses. Pointing her bow at the prone figure, she crept closer.

He was alive, but unconscious. Tentatively laying her bow to the side, she leaned over him, feeling for his pulse with two slender azure fingers. It was faint, but there. There was not enough blood on his shirt to have drained him of his life, she realized thankfully. Pulling a bone knife out from a hip sheath, she gently cut away at the fabric on his upper torso until she had exposed the wound. There were several holes where bullets had penetrated, and she could see the glint of bloody metal from each hole.

She would try to reach him in his unconsciousness, to reassure him as she worked. It was a common practice for healers or lovers, to try to share the pain, to make it more bearable when spread between two. Sliding her hands down her braids until she found the end of her whip, she pried his from underneath his body, and slowly placed them together. She watched the pink tendrils intertwine, and felt a sharp burst of energy in the back of her skull.

She gasped involuntarily. There was nothing there. He was brain dead. She pulled away immediately, revulsed. It did not make sense - his heart was beating, his eyes moved beneath the lids. And then she realized. The male was a dreamwalker, like the mate of the Omaticaya matriarch.

She took up her knife again, gently easing the bullets out of the body. The bullets had not penetrated the tough bone of his ribcage, but in places the ribs had cracked. With each piece of metal that emerged, fresh blood welled in the wound. She found a healing herb nearby, stuffing it into the wound to help staunch it. She whistled for Eskareil, and when he came she reached into the pouch tied to his body until she found a roll of cloth to wind around the man’s torso. She strapped him onto Eskareil's back, jumped up, joined whips with the ikran, and lifted off the forest floor.

_ To the Tree of Souls, _ she thought. It was so strange, so alien. How was it possible to have two bodies at the same time? Where was the human who belonged to this body?

_ Trudy! _

The remains of the Samson lay in the jungle like a crumpled dragonfly. Norm dropped his gun and sprinted towards the wreckage. He found the charred cockpit door, twisted the handle, and pulled. The door opened bit by bit, screeching with each frantic jerk of Norm's hand. The metal was still hot, searing his hands.

The door flew open with the last pull. Norm almost didn't catch her as her body slid out of the cockpit. Letting her gently to the ground, he groped inside the cockpit for an oxygen kit. He held the mask to her face, pressing it until he heard the click.

He blinked, his eyes blurred with tears.

"No Trudy, don't do this. You’re a fucking fighter! Fight for me!" he yelled, shaking her forcefully.

He held her, her limp body in his steel arms. Around him the na'vi cheered and whooped fiercely as they hunted down the last soldiers, but they barely registered on the fringes of his awareness.

He couldn't keep track of how much time had passed until the ventilator began to hiss next to his ear, and in that hiss he finally heard his name.

"Norm."

He turned to look at her. Her eyes were open, barely, and her mouth was ajar. He felt her chest rising and falling in the slightest motion.

"Trudy, can you hear me?"

Her cracked lips formed a smirk.

"I hear you, Norm Spellman."

He laughed with relief. His eyes welled, his vision blurred.

"So, how bad is it? I can't feel anything." she began to strain her head, eyes moving downwards.

"Don't move, it's ok," Norm reassured her, taking the back of her head in his hand as she relaxed. Her head shifted slightly to the side, and Norm saw fluid coming from her ear, running down the burn marks on her neck.

"I think the fall injured your spine, Trudy. We have to get you back to Hell's Gate so they can fix you up."

Trudy closed her eyes. "They don't have the stuff there that they need to fix this. They'd have to ship me back home, and that's not gonna happen. We're traitors."

Norm shook his head. "The na'vi can help you."

"They can't fix this, Norm, and you know that," she wheezed. She was having trouble breathing. Norm adjusted the oxygen levels on the mask.

Trudy opened her eyes again. It seemed like a great effort. She looked at him with red-rimmed eyes.

"Bring me to Eywa."

"Do you think she – do you think Eywa can fix you?" Norm asked incredulously.

"She can either fix me or let me stay with her," Trudy said. "Either way, I'm good."

They began shouting for help.

 


	3. Chapter 2: Assault

Chapter Two: Assault

 

Dr. Matthew Lucas received news of his promotion shortly after he heard the gunshots that signaled Dr. Augustine's defection. As she escaped with the others into the mountains, Lucas had been in the Biolab dissecting a section of the spiraling peach-orange vegetation he had decided to call helicoradian. 

Lucas was well into his fifth decade, and had worked alongside Augustine for around two of them, not counting the six years it took to reach Pandora on the  _ Venture Star _ . He had been driving an Avatar in the last five years, using it to explore the forest for biological material to run through the lab, and it was still in its physical prime, having been engineered fairly recently. Still, he preferred the lab and its’ many layers of concrete standing between him and the more dangerous elements of Pandora.

The enviro alarm sounded and successive cracks of a gun had sounded from above him. Leaving the sample and tools behind, Lucas slid his chair over to the nearby computer station. As he approached, the curved projection screen flickered into life in anticipation of him. He quickly manipulated the screen, scanning his ID to access the security camera feed. Cycling through a few, he finally found a camera mounted on the building outside. Through a covering of protective wire mesh he caught a glimpse of a Samson helicopter lifting off from the hangar and into the sky.

“Damn you, Grace,” he muttered. “You did it.”

He returned to his work, shutting off the screen. Watching the feed had confirmed what he already knew would happen. He had watched the destruction of Hometree in the control room upstairs. The negotiations between the RDA and the na'vi had failed, and Quatrich had gone ahead with the demolition. He had seen Grace and Sully tied up, struggling as fire and explosions erupted around them, and watched as they were untied, losing sight of them as they escaped into the jungle.

He wouldn't forget the way Grace had snarled "MURDERERS!" at all of them when she emerged from the link unit, fighting off security as they dragged her to the holding cell. The new one, Jake, had just stared blankly until the guards lifted him out of the unit. After the two of them and their companions been taken away, Lucas had watched the screens for a while longer, looking over the gnarled and smoking remains of the enormous felled tree.

_ She did it,  _ he thought to himself again. He wasn’t sure before if she would be willing to risk everything to protect the na’vi. But after she’d seen that little na’vi girl get gunned down at the school, Grace had changed. But did she realize what exactly she was up against?

Lucas had just begun to apply small amounts of electricity to the neuromuscular system of his plant sample when the door to the lab burst open. Quartich stormed in. He was pale, with slightly purpled lips.

"Lucas!" Quartich snapped, striding through an array of scientific equipment, computer terminals, and scattered desks strewn with datasheets.

"Sir." Lucas stood, straightening his lab coat. Though not part of the militia, all scientists and anthropologists had received training in arms – and military conventions – when they first arrived on Pandora. Quaritch of all people wanted everyone around him to adhere to protocol.

"It seems like we have a situation on our hands," Quartich said as he slammed the palms of his hands down on Lucas’ desk. Lucas noticed that his breaths were shallow and rapid, and he could smell trace amounts of Pandorian atmosphere coming from the Colonel. What the hell had just happened during Grace’s escape?

"In the absence of the appropriate authority, I'm promoting you to director of the Avatar program," he continued. "Aside from you current duties, you will now be supervising the other avatar drivers and communicating your activities and progress to Administrator Selfridge. In short, you will be taking over for Augustine. I suggest you find someone to assist you with your work in the lab."

Lucas nodded.

"Yes sir."

"Glad we're on the same page, Lucas."

Quartich left as quickly as he had come. Lucas rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm, then discarded his gloves in the trash receptacle beside his desk. Hanging up his lab coat on the wall, he looked around the room. There were only two other scientists working in the lab, engrossed in their work. Lucas wondered if they had even paid attention to his discourse with Quartich.

"I need someone to continue the work with the helicoradian," he said, and one of the researchers looked up. "Call someone if you can't do it yourself," he finished, and strode through the automatic door to the link room.

#

Warning lights flashed and emergency signals blared in the command centre at Hell's Gate. There was yelling and a frantic scrambling as the humans reached for emergency oxygen masks. Avatars began pouring into the command centre, all armed. They leapt through the broken window, disengaging the air locks to let others in.

"I got him, Lucas."

Dr. Lucas's avatar turned to see driver and xenobiologist Hayley King leveling a gun at the head administrator of the RDA. Selfridge, freshly masked and gulping air, immediately threw up his hands.

"What the hell do you think you're all doing –" he said, stepping backward.

"Don't move you fucking son of a bitch!" she snapped, shoving the gun towards him. All around the command center holo screens displayed images of the ongoing battle. Lucas moved to a control desk, deactivating the decompression alarms.

"Look!" avatar Li shouted, gesturing at the screens. All of them had gone white. Everyone went quiet, watching as the glare slowly faded. Some of the cameras cut out, and the screens quickly switched to new feeds.

"The explosives!" King shouted. She turned and bared her teeth at Selfridge, letting out an inhuman hiss. In her rage, na'vi instinct was beginning to take over.

"Where did the bomb land?" Lucas said, gun gripped tightly in his avatar's hands and pointed towards the dozen or so technicians with theirs held in the air.

"Get a camera on the tree," Selfridge gestured nervously to the nearest technician.

It was still there.

They could see the soft purple glow of the soul tree's tendrils, surrounded by a sea of praying na'vi. The avatar drivers let out a collective cheer, as did some of the technicians.

"All of you here were almost responsible for destroying that," Lucas said at last, pointing a blue hand at screen still displaying the column of smoke. "You may not feel like you were directly responsible, but all of you here played a role in the near-genocide of these people."

Hayley was grateful for Lucas in that moment. The new head scientist has initially seemed reluctant to join the rest of the avatar drivers in the fight. He’d mentioned something about being up against bigger forces than she was aware of. But when Hayley had told Lucas about Grace’s death and the impending destruction of the Tree of Souls, something had changed in him, and he had agreed to fight. 

"Tie them all up and put them in the cargo room." Lucas finished. He turned to Hayley. "Except him. Keep him here."

She nodded.

"Get down," Hayley snapped.

Oxygen mask hissing, Selfridge dropped to his knees.

"All of you will be arrested once the military gets back," he said, raising his voice over Hayley's guttural growl.

"Sir," came a voice from a console. It was a female technician. "The militia have been captured and are returning to base. I've just received word that Quaritch is down. We've lost."

"So much for that idea, Selfridge," said Li. "You better hope that the na'vi don't decide to make you a part of their victory feast."

"The na'vi don't eat human flesh," Lucas said, then with a small smile, "So they will most likely just dismember him and leave him in the forest to be eaten slowly by some other organism."

"Works for me," Li replied, smirking.

Gasping noises suddenly came from the far side of the control room.

"My mask isn’t working!" a man cried, stumbling around his console. "I can't…breathe-"

He passed out, sprawling over floor.

Grabbing for a spare mask on the wall, Li nimbly sprang through the consoles until he reached the prone figure. He quickly made the switch, and the man stopped hyperventilating.

"We've got to get all these people out of here," said Lucas.

"I'll go," Hayley said. "I'll delink and meet you on the other side so we can bring them through."

Lucas nodded. "Fast, Hayley."

Hayley cleared a space on the floor of debris and lay her body down. She closed her eyes.

"Set me up."

Finding the nearest computer, Lucas scanned his ID. He patched into the terminal in the link center, found Hayley's unit, and began the delinking process.

Hayley plunged into chaos.

#

"Norm…"

"Norm, come in…what's your position?"

Jake readjusted throat mike, now wrapped around his human neck, and tried again.

"Norm, state your position and status."

He shook his head.

"I can't get anyone."

"Maybe it is broken." Neytiri offered. They sat in the clearing by Jake's avatar body, waiting; Neytiri cross-legged on the forest floor and Jake in his chair.

"Try yours." Jake shifted in his chair, trying to get a better look at the sky. "Are you sure he'll come if we wait here?"

"Once the bond is made, ikran will know where his other half will be always," Neytiri said, reaching up to take Jake's small hand in hers. "I think it is the same with Toruk." With her other hand she swept her braids and battle feathers out of the way, and touched her neck.

"Can anyone hear me? Come in, please. Neytiri and Jake are here."

They waited for a time, in silence, and then –

With a hiss and crackle, they hear the deep and melodious voice of a female na'vi.

"What is she saying, Neytiri?" Jake asked.

Neytiri closed her eyes, ears swiveling slightly. "It is difficult. She does not speak like Omaticaya." She touched the reply button on her neck again, and began speaking in her own language. They talked back and forth, too rapidly for Jake to even pick up the gist of what they were saying.

"She is of the Eastern Ikran clan." Neytiri finally. "She has found the body of Norm. He has been hurt badly, from a gun."

"Norm's dead?" Jake asked.

Neytiri's eyes grew wide, and she quickly shook her head. "No, no, it is his dreamwalker body. And the body is not dead. The female is bringing it to the tree, to heal."

A shadow passed over them. Jake looked up to see the Great Leonopteryx batting his orange wings as he descended into the clearing.

He turned to Neytiri.

"Let’s get going."

 


	4. Chapter 3: Hell's Gate

Chapter Three: Hell’s Gate

The white cylindrical link unit slid out the pod which extended out of the wall. With a loud click the locks disengaged, and the upper portion of the unit began to lift upwards with a mechanical whirr.

Slamming the skeletal sensors aside with her hand, Hayley leapt out of the unit and landed squarely on her feet. She ran through the link room, auburn ponytail swinging from side to side, her military boots clunking against the metal floor.

The link room was bathed in ambient blue light emanating from the set of giant embryonic tubes used to house the avatars. About two-thirds of the containers contained avatars, either still in their developmental stage or in a cryogenic sleep. Storing the avatars when unused for long periods of time helped prolong their lifespan and prevented their muscle mass from degrading. 

Hayley quickly cleared the link room and sprinted down a corridor, then another, until she reached the large metal door leading to the command room. There was no signal, but red lights flickered on and off along the perimeter of the door and a siren wailed, indicating that the atmosphere beyond the door was unbreathable for humans. There was an airlock between the command center and the corridor. Consulting the small screen on the wall beside the door, Hayley could see that the process of oxygenation was nearly complete.

Finally, the door slid open, the air smelling slightly of the alien gas. It stung Hayley’s nose. They had loaded an unconscious Parker Selfridge onto a coffee cart – not the most dignified of stretchers, but it worked. There were three others, two of which were soldiers slightly injured by the broken glass, and a man who appeared to be uninjured, who was pushing the cart.

"You're Max Patel, right? From the xenoneurobiology team?"

Max nodded, taking off his mask. It came off easily, depressurizing with a hiss of escaping air. He raised his hands from the cart for a moment. "Yeah. Lucas explained everything."

Dr. Matthew Lucas, Hayley’s superior, was still in the control room in his avatar form.

"What did he say?" Hayley asked. They turned a corner as they made their way towards the medical room. 

"He told me you weren’t going to stand by and watch the na’vi die. I told him I was helping Jake Sully the whole time," Max said. "Ever since he escaped with Augustine and Spellman into the mountains. I set up an encrypted link. I was giving them intel. Guess I was good enough at it for him not to find out until now."

"Where are they now?"

"Last time I opened up and looked around the portable link room they've got out in the jungle." Max replied. "All the windows were smashed though, and the link units were open. I didn't see anybody."

"That’s not great news for Jake and the others," Hayley said, turning a corner. The door to the medical room was painted white with a large red cross running down the middle. The doors slid open noiselessly, and they stepped inside.

Complete chaos. Soldiers and civilians were running, shouting. Small medical drones hovered in the air, moving from patient to patient. On the wall adjacent to the airlock on the opposite side of the room, Hayley could see that a holo screen had been set up; since Hell's Gate had been constantly under attack for as long as the base had existed, windows were a vulnerability they couldn't afford.

As Max and the others continued down the ramp into the heart of the medical quarters, Hayley had a closer look at the screen, narrowing her hazel eyes. There was a group of nurses in masks, outside the compound, with stretchers on wheels. She watched as a band of na'vi warriors, dressed in a frightening array of bones, feathers, leather and war paint, rode up to the airlock on direhorses. They dismounted, helping the injured soldiers do the same, and handed them over like children to the nurses. The soldiers were ushered and wheeled into the airlock as the na'vi rode away, into the jungle. Even more casualties were coming, on banshees far up in the sky.

A klaxon sounded, and the airlock began to open. The soldiers Hayley had seen outside tumbled into the medical room. Nurses quickly sorted out the casualties and assigned them to stations. Hayley spotted a familiar face among them.

"Norm!" she shouted, jogging over. He seemed to be uninjured, but he was with someone else, lying on a stretcher. She looked familiar to Hayley, but she was badly burnt, including portions of her face and neck. As the nurses began to wheel the injured woman over to an unoccupied section of the room, Norm followed, barely giving Hayley a glance.

She caught up with Norm.

"What happened?" she asked, as they walked through the injured and incapacitated in the ward.

Norm didn't respond right away, but after a few moments, he finally seemed to wake out of his stupor. When he looked at Hayley, she could see that his eyes were red and swollen.

"It's Trudy, she…her helicopter crashed in the forest," he said.

Hayley jogged her memory for a second.  _ Trudy _ …yes! Norm had mentioned her once or twice, in the avatar compound. They had been playing basketball, toning their muscles, trying to compensate for the periods of inactivity when they delinked.

"I haven't seen you around as much lately, Norm," she had said, dribbling the ball from side to side. She loved being in her avatar. Maybe it was just the effect of the Pandorian gravity on her human body, but when she was out of the link she felt slow, lethargic. In her avatar she was nimble, energetic, catlike in her reflexes. And she looked about five years younger.

"Believe it or not, I've been busier now that Jake's made contact with the Omaticaya," Norm said. "Pass me the ball."

"How so?" She hurled it at him, but he caught it effortlessly, gripping it in his sinewy blue hands. His tail snapped back and forth as he lined up to make the shot.

"Grace has got me on teaching duty. I'm teaching Jake some of the local language." The basketball passed through the hoop with a satisfying swoosh. It moved slower in the gravity, Hayley noted. She sprung forward and was able to catch it in mid-air.

"And I'm seeing someone," Norm added stealthily, with a shy grin.

Hayley landed on her feet and swung around in one fluid moment. She was showing off, but didn't care. She looked at Norm.

"Do I know her? Is she a driver?"

"She's a pilot. Her name's Trudy." he said, smiling to himself.

"Military, hmm? What's she like?" Hayley waved her tail from side to side playfully, her ears opening towards him in interest.

"Well, she's…strong," Norm said. He looked as if he was staring intently at something in the distance as he thought. "She's a tough person, been through a lot, you know? But she's really sweet, too, if you get on her good side."

"You better not break up with her," Hayley joked, "or she'll kick your ass."

"She already does," Norm laughed, "if I do anything stupid."

"Well, I'd love to meet her sometime. She seems like a good fit for you. Bring her to the compound when you get the chance."

"I'll see. She's really busy, shipping soldiers in and out of the jungle on missions," Norm replied. "I'll see if she can give you a ride out into the jungle."

"I've been in a Samson before, if that's what you mean," Hayley said. "I guess the old guy who used to ship us into the forest retired. I haven't gone too deep for a while, not after…well, you've heard about what happened."

They passed the ball back and forth for a bit, until a na’vi Hayley would later found out was Jake came crashing through their game in a medical gown.

Soon after that afternoon, Norm left for the Hallelujah Mountains with Jake and Grace. Life for Hayley and the rest of the team had gone on as usual, except that they would get together every week in the evening and watch Jake's video logs, hungry to hear the experiences Jake was having among the na'vi.

"I think she's sleeping now," Norm was saying, jolting Hayley out of her reminiscing. Trudy's eyes were shut, her body lax, and she was breathing in and out slowly. She didn't seem to be experiencing the pain anymore, which Hayley was grateful for, for Norm's sake.

"Are you going to stay here?" Hayley asked gently.

Norm nodded, looking at Trudy's unconscious figure.

"If you want, I can stay with you," Hayley offered. She put her hand on Norm's arm. Norm started to shake, and before she knew it, tears were sliding down his face. 

“Norm, I’m sorry,” Hayley said. She drew her friend in for a hug, though her arms felt heavy, like lead. She didn’t know what to tell him; she had no idea whether or not everything would be okay after all of this.

"Excuse me, but are you Norman Spellman?" One of the nurses had approached them hesitantly.

"I am," said Norm, withdrawing from Hayley. 

"There's…someone wants to see you," she said. "I think her name is On...onyulk? She's just outside the airlock. I can bring you a mask."

"A na'vi," Hayley said. "I wonder what she wants." She paused. She didn't want to seem overbearing, but decided to offer her help again. "I can come with you if…"

"Can you stay with Trudy?" Norm asked. "Please, just until I come back."

"Of course," Hayley replied, "I'll stay with her."

"Thanks," he said, wiping his eyes hard with his hand. 

The nurse handed Norm a mask. Taking it in his hand, Norm bent over Trudy, kissing her forehead. He strapped the mask on and left for the airlock. Hayley watched him leave, and then, taking a chair, sat down beside Trudy. Holding her hand, Hayley watched as the medbots started hooking her up to life support.

#

" _ I see you, Normspellman _ ."

As Norm emerged out of the airlock and into the glare of the setting sun, he saw the tall shadow of the female na'vi, flanked by her equally intimidating banshee mount. She was a wild blue amazon towering over him, streaked in war paint, hair full of long white feathers, torso cloaked in beads. Her gold eyes glinted fiercely.

" _ I see you _ ." Norm lowered his head in respect, and then met her gaze again. " _ May I inquire for your name? _ "

" _ My name is Onui'lk te Ikolu Le'ajir'ite _ ," she replied. " _ Let me tell you why I have come. I was flying through the forest, looking for warriors that had survived the battle but were too injured to seek help. My ikran, Eskareil, found your dreamwalker body at the base of a tree. I tended to your wounds and took you to the Tree of Souls. The body is very weak, but it is recovering _ ."

" _ I thank you, warrior _ ," Norm replied. Her accent was strange, and some of the words sounded different. Where was she from.

Onui'lk laughed.

" _ Your Na'vi is very formal _ ," she said. " _ But you speak it well, for the Omaticaya dialect. I can take you to your body when you are ready _ ."

" _ I can not go at this time _ ," Norm replied. " _ There is a woman who is hurt here, who I must watch over _ . "

" _ Is she your mate? _ " Onui'lk asked.

Norm took a deep breath.

" _ Yes. _ "

Onui'lk's eyes widened slightly, her ears flattening. For a brief moment, she seemed at a loss for words.

" _ I have heard of the strength of your healers. If I have heard correctly, she is in good hands. Our people, however, would be glad to help you and your mate if you so desire _ ," she said. Reaching behind her neck with both hands, Onui'lk untied a charm from around her neck. It was a slender bone flute, carved into the shape of a diving ikran.

" _ This is a symbol of our people," _ Onui'lk said. " _ If you offer it to one of us, they will help you _ .  _ If you play it, I will come _ ." She placed the charm in Norm's hands, closing his fingers around it with her own.

" _ I will go now to watch over your dreamwalker body _ ." Onui'lk dipped her head in a clattering of bone and beads. Eskareil approached and bowed alongside her, offering his queue. Taking it in her hand, she linked with him, and swung up and over his neck, gripping his body between her legs. With a whoop they took off together, soaring over the barbed-wired tipped walls and gun turrets, towards the Tree of Souls.

As she left, the sun flickered briefly, and Norm looked into the sky. Jake's leonopteryx was descending towards the base, Neytiri riding alongside Jake, Jake's na'vi body clutched in its talons.

 


	5. Chapter 4: Animation

Chapter Four: Animation

The great leonopteryx descended, outstretched wings stirring the dusty air with every sweep. na'vi and human alike stumbled out of the way as it landed with a booming screech, as its claws scraped against the concrete of the airfield.

Neytiri delinked and lunged forward, into a catlike landing. She untied the ropes binding Jake's wheelchair under the leonopteryx. She pulled open the collapsible frame and placed it on the ground.

"Come, Jake."

Jake slowly relaxed his hands and let himself slide down the creature's still-heaving flank. Neytiri caught him in her arms as he fell, helping him into the chair.

Jake peered though the smog on the airfield that descended on them from the exhaust pipes above. Hundreds of na'vi warriors were emerging from the forest, carrying and prodding captive human soldiers. Damaged AMP suits limped by, riddled with arrows. Towering around them were several massive excavation vehicles – looking at the nearest one, he could see that the glass of the cockpit was smashed, a blue figure holding a knife to the driver's neck within.

"They're bringing everyone here." he said, mostly to himself. "All the humans."

He heard something over the rumble of engines and mechanical parts. It was someone calling his name. Rotating around in the wheelchair, he oriented his body towards the direction of the noise.

Two avatars were coming towards him, male and female, dressed in combat fatigues. They were both holding their shirts over their faces in an attempt to filter out the smoke. Jake hadn't realized how filthy the air was in the base – he had never come here as a na'vi, and as a human the mask had filtered out the majority of the caustic odor. Neytiri had her hand over her nose and mouth, exhaling sharply, trying to drive the stench of burning rubber and tarmac out of her nose.

"Sully!"

It was the male that had spoken his name. Both the male and female jogged the last few yards until they reached Jake and Neytiri. Neytiri took a small step backwards, until she was in a slight crouch over Jake's na'vi body.

"It's alright, Neytiri," Jake said, under his breath. "They won't harm us."

She nodded, and straightened her posture. One of her hands still lingered around the sheath of her ikran claw dagger.

The male avatar pulled his shirt down, revealing a thinly lined face.

"I don't know if you remember us," the he, narrowing his golden eyes. "My name is Matt Lucas. I drive an avatar, but I mostly work in the lab. We've met before, once. This is Hayley King, xenobiologist."

Jake nodded. "This is Neytiri, my mate."

Lucas smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Neytiri."

Neytiri paused, tense, uncertain of how to respond. Jake quickly realized that she was still upset about the death of her sister.

Hayley realized that she was staring at the na'vi woman, and averted her eyes. Neytiri was incredibly, fiercely beautiful. She was a slim blue tigress, striped in vibrant war paint, her hair and body covered in dust, dirt, and smeared with blood. The queen of the Omaticaya would have been quite a sight in the battle.

"We've got Selfridge," Lucas continued. "in the holding cell on level B2. If you come with me, I can show you-"

"Bring him here," Jake said abruptly. "We're taking him to the Tree of Souls, right now. I want to show him what he's done to the People."

Lucas nodded. "We'll bring him out."

"I need to link up again first. Meet me here in ten minutes," Jake commanded. "Neytiri, stay here and guard my body. I'll be in the link soon."

"Hurry please, Jake," Neytiri replied. " _ This place feels wrong. It is an intrusion. _ "

"I'll be right back, I promise," Gripping the wheels of his chair hard, Jake began to pump his arms, following Lucas and King as they guided him back into the base.

Eskareil was tiring.

In the last moments of sunlight Onui’lk dipped under the canopy to the forest floor below. Guiding her ikran, they swooped low, pulling up sharply to come to a rest among the twisted trunks and vines.

She reached down to pat Eskareil's flank.

" _ We have worked hard today. Go, find food _ ."

Onu delinked and descended. Damp moss cushioned her feet as they touched the earth. 

Eskareil quickly launched again into the sky, in search of prey.

She was standing at the edge of a pool of clear and crystal blue water. The surface of the pool glimmered with the last light of the setting sun, while the bottom glowed a soft purple-pink from the bioluminescence of the algae below. Small fish painted with the same brilliant patches flickered and darted in the waters.

The pool was fed by an enormous set of waterfalls cascading down the face of a cliff, the result of a great chunk of earth ripping away from the surface by the planet's magnetic forces to float in the sky. The waterfalls themselves shone with an inner light; above them, great intertwined branches formed a series of natural bridges that crossed from one side of the pool to the other. Onu wondered whether they had occurred naturally, or if ancient ancestors had guided the roots there.

She was tired, and hungry, but also dirty. The battle had left her streaked with blood, sweat, and dust. Onu could feel small twigs lodged here and there as she ran her hands over her braids. Reaching behind her neck, she undid the clasp tying her bead wrap and let it slip to the forest floor. Untying her loincloth, she rolled it up and placed it beside the beads. Finally, she placed her bow and quiver on the ground.

One foot, then another, Onu began wading into the pool. The ground was velvety soft and slick, coated with aquatic plants. Lilies and other weed-like organisms waved gently in the current. Looking above, she could see aytawtsngal and ayatokirina' floating amidst the towering trees.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Onu plunged headfirst into the water, submerging her body. Beneath the water she took powerful strokes with her hands, propelling herself forward in the direction of the waterfalls. As she swam into deeper waters, she focused her vision until the bottom became clearer. It was a trick she had learned as a child, with great amounts of practice. Most of the children of her clan spent the majority of their time in the Eastern Sea diving for small creatures.

When her body cried out for air, she went up to the surface with a strong kick of her legs. She emerged at the bottom of one of the smaller waterfalls. Here, the current was not as strong.

She let the water rush over her face and body. She rubbed the paint off her limbs, watching small plumes of colour disintegrate in the rushing water. She removed the fragments of wood and leaves from her hair as best she could, and looked carefully over her body for cuts and other wounds. At last, she plunged under the water completely, swimming back to shore.

Onu emerged from the pool, wet and clean. Under her skin, points of bioluminescence began to glow over her face and body with the setting of the sun. Walking over to the small bundle of clothing, she dressed herself again. Slinging her bow over her body, she set off through the jungle.

Climbing the great arched roots, she quickly ascended into the understory. With the violet light of aytawtsngal illuminating the way, she sprung from tree to tree, using her arms and legs to propel herself. A cluster of woodsprites pulsed gently, and Onu moved away from them. Woodsprites always spread away from the Tree of Souls, searching for new ground in which to spawn new trees.

With the spindly white seeds as her guide, Onu pressed onward. She soon reached the field of battle – small fires still flickered over the dead and the last remnants of the destruction inflicted by human explosives. She passed above the carnage, dodging splintered wood and scorched branches.

Night had fully fallen. Shadows of massive stone columns loomed overhead, visible through the canopy. Moving faster, Onu began to hear voices. People were singing, talking, crying out in pain. She noticed a faint pulse of light was running through the bioluminescent vegetation around her like a heartbeat.

_ Are they only praying, or is someone passing through the eye of Ewya?  _

Launching herself into the air, Onu grasped the flat leaves of a nearby plant to slow her fall until she reached the forest floor. She ran along with the pulse of light, nimbly moving from root to root until she reached the lip of the crater that contained the tree.

It was the first time she had been to the Tree of Souls, but somehow it felt to her like home. Hundreds of na'vi, mostly Omaticaya, filled the valley from the lip to the base of the tree, spilling over into the forest beyond. In the very center, a group of na'vi sat clustered together; from a distance it was difficult to tell, but they seemed to be moving in unison.

Many of the tree's roots extended out of the depression and over the lip of the crater. In some clans, Onu had heard of a legend of a ball of fire falling out of the sky long ago. It was said that the meteor smashed into the earth, causing the earth to move and the great stone columns to form. Soon after, the tree began to grow from the ashes. Putting such thoughts aside, Onu scrambled down the length of the root until she reached level ground.

The wizened yet intimidating Mo'at was crouched at the base of the tree, tending to the injured Tsu'tey. She had on a soft, silken robe woven of luminescent spider silk, the kind she wore during ceremonies in this place. Onu approached with open hands and head bowed.

" _ I see you, wise matriarch _ ."

Mo'at nodded but did not rise. She was busy trying to quell the flow of flood from the base of the warrior's skull. " _I see you, sea-warrior_ _Onu._ " Mo'at had a slight difficulty pronouncing Onu's name, due to the slight difference in dialect.

" _ I know that you are busy _ ," Onu said. " _ I will be brief. I spoke to the human and he is not ready to join with his dreamwalker body. I will care for it until he has finished caring for his mate." _

" _ If he does not return to it soon, the body will die _ ," Mo'at replied shortly. " _ It is weak, it needs nourishment. The others can wake to eat, and he can not _ ."

" _ Perhaps I can help. Where is the body _ ?"

Mo'at extended her left hand, pointing, and Onu spotted the oddly-clothed male among the rest of the injured. Picking her way among them, she crouched by Norm's head. She placed two fingers on his neck and checked his pulse – it was still there.

Onu closed her eyes and massaged them gently with her fingers. She focused on her breathing, inhaling and exhaling deeply until she had calmed her nerves. The first time she tried to connect with Norm's avatar, she felt a deep revulsion at touching his absent brain. 

Opening a pouch on her hip, she removed a handful of nuts and fruit and placed them on the ground between them. Onu took another deep breath, steeling herself. Reaching behind her, she extended her queue, and taking his in her hand, she linked together with him.

There was the emptiness again, the trace of memories whispering in her mind. Gently, she extended her consciousness until it began to fill the void, carefully keeping a part of herself lodged firmly in her own mind so that she would be able to find her way back.

Onu opened Norm's eyes, and found that she was looking at her own body. Finding it too overwhelming to look through four sets of eyes, Onu closed her own body's eyes again. She concentrated, and was able to slowly move Norm's hand towards the fruit and nuts. The hand had an extra finger on it that Onu was unable to move; unless she concentrated all her energy upon it, in which case it gave the smallest of twitches.

She used Norm’s hand to grasp the nuts and slowly brought it to his mouth. She chewed carefully, trying to keep the movements as smooth as possible. Once she had succeeded in chewing the nuts, she swallowed them carefully. As she felt the food travel down his throat, she felt his hunger pangs. It had been a very long time since the avatar had eaten last, an errant memory told her. Other images threatened to flood her consciousness, but she held them at bay. 

They continued in this fashion, Onu guiding Norm's body through eating, until the food was gone. Laying him on the ground again, Onu withdrew, back into her own body.

When she emerged she too lay on the ground, panting, trying to regain her wits. There was a part of him that was human, not of this world, and made him nearly non-compatible with her own mind. Even now she could feel the vestiges of a phantom fifth finger twitching on her own hands, among other unusual sensations. Regardless, Onu was committed to keeping Norm’s body alive.

Lying in the light of the tree, Onu began to drift into the depths of unconsciousness herself, until she heard the roar of Toruk. She saw the Last Shadow pass in front of the soft blue radiance of Polyphemus, descending through the night to land at the lip of the crater.

 


	6. Chapter 5: Contact

Chapter Five: Contact

Jake was perched at the head of the toruk, resplendent in the beads, feathers and bones of his warrior garb. Behind him Neytiri was crouched, hands clasped around his waist. There were two others, one human and one avatar, behind her. Willing his mount to bow to the ground, Jake motioned to Hayley to dismount Hayley swung her leg over the creature's back and slid to the ground, landing hard. Next came Selfridge, who fell into Hayley's arms. She helped him to the ground while keeping him firmly in her grasp. Hayley hadn't brought a weapon out of respect to the na'vi, so she was doubly cautious about keeping him close.  _ Still _ , she supposed,  _ there isn’t anywhere he could escape to from here. _

Neytiri climbed down and wove through the crowd until she reached Mo'at. Embracing her mother, she knelt beside Tsu'tey's figure and laid a hand on his forehead. Tsu'tey stirred, opening his eyes and taking in a raspy breath.

Neytiri looked to her mother.

_ "How did it happen? _ "

" _ He was shot by human warriors, _ " Mo'at said, as she placed her own hand on Neytiri's shoulder. " _ A human did this –  _ "

Mo'at gently took Tsu'tey's head in her hands, and tilted his head to the side. All that was left of his queue was a bloody stump. Horrified, Neytiri let a gasp escape her lips.  _ They had cut off his queue _ . If he healed, he would never again hear the voice of Eywa, of the ancestors. He would never ride his Ikran. To cut the queue of a na'vi was to inflict the greatest suffering to both body and soul. It was the greatest insult imaginable to any of the People.

Turning around, Neytiri sprung toward Selfridge with a screech.

"Wait!" Hayley yelled. Though it went against the majority of her instinct, she pushed Parker to the ground, crouching over him.

Jake leapt down from his mount. Moving quickly, he caught Neytiri in his arms. She struggled against him, her eyes filled with tears.

"Jake, let me go! He told them to cut Tsu'tey, he  _ made _ them do this!" she yelled hoarsely, pounding at his chest with her fists. Her ears were completely flattened, her fate contorted with rage and grief. "My father, now Tsu'tey…" She couldn't finish. She broke down, uttering a string of na'vi curses, which soon faded into an unintelligible sob.

"I know," Jake said, holding her as she slowly stopped struggling and allowed herself to weep in his arms. Rising to her feet, Hayley dragged Selfridge off ground roughly.

"This is only the beginning," she spat. Her voice was pure venom. "You know that, don't you? Have a look around."

Parker looked. The wounded were being tended to by their families, as the dying were taken away on makeshift woven stretchers. All around he could hear the long, drawn-out sobs of women mourning the loss of their mates. The weeping, the chanting and the prayers, all of them grated in his ears. None of them showed any kind of constraint, any modesty towards death. He could imagine what a funeral would look like – savages pulling out their hair, throwing themselves into some sort of funeral pyre. Death was something universal, but it was something to be taken with grace, with dignity and acceptance. It disgusted him.

He sighed.

"It's a shame," he remarked, avoiding Hayley's stare, "that none of you will get to see the same happen on Earth. The unobtanium we were mining here was being shipped back to make air and water purifying plants. I'll look, Ms. King. But imagine this happening around the entire planet, to billions, to your own species. Just count yourself lucky you were able to switch sides."

"Are you saying that it's all right to kill one race so that another may survive?" Hayley's grip on his arm tightened, her large blue hand dwarfing its' pale length. "The na'vi shouldn't have to pay for our mistakes."

"Aren't you lucky that you happen to be one of them now,” Parker smirked. “The people who engineered that body for you so you could play Pocahontas are going to be dead in the next ten years if we don't find resources to keep our planet running."

"I couldn't help hearing your conversation," Jake snapped, looming over Selfridge. Neytiri stood behind him, trembling, her anger barely kept in check.

"Funny thing," Jake continued, raising his voice so that everyone in the vicinity of the tree could hear. "If we hadn't killed our own mother, then we wouldn't have needed a surrogate in the first place."

"Our generation inherited this problem," Selfridge retorted, raising his voice as well. "Are we supposed to stop trying, to give up the fight? The history of humankind has always worked this way – we survive by conquering."

"The na'vi have a different way," Jake replied. "You should have paid closer attention to them, instead of calling them savages."

"We were like them, once,” Parker continued. “It will happen to them to, in due course. We might even have started it early. We taught them how to farm, and soon they'll all be fighting over the land just to that they can feed themselves. Soon they'll outgrow their own planet."

"You're wrong. It doesn't have to be like that. We're living in tune with our mother," Jake said.

Selfridge snorted.

"You want me to take that seriously? It's fucking hippie bullshit, Jake. You know what life is like without technology? It's disease-ridden, filthy, hard, dangerous, and short. Sooner or later you won't want to settle for it."

"Better than no life." It was Neytiri. She looked at Selfridge, meeting his eyes with hers, her expression calm but grim. "You will never know what our life is. You will never know the beauty of it. Your heart is too full of greed."

She raised her hand, making the motion of pushing him away.

"You should not be here," she concluded. A murmur or approval rippled around the tree.

"We're going to sit here, now," Jake announced, "and negotiate the release of the surviving humans on Pandora, in exchange for them leaving the planet, permanently."

A great cheer arose from the na'vi. Hayley could hear the females ululating, the males whooping. She released her hand from Selfridge's arm, and stepped away.

A na'vi woman was approaching them, slowly walking up the slope. Silhouetted in the soft luminous glow of the Tree of Souls, her figure was more curvaceous than that of Neytiri's, more feminine. She was lightly clad, a thin shawl of tinted glass beads covering her upper torso and silken loincloth, glinting with the moon and planets light. Her shoulders and neck were bare, revealing striped skin the colour of deep sapphire. Several white feathers sprouted from her braided hair which reached to her waist, gathered away from her face. Her body glowed in swirling patterns of bioluminescence, tiny points scattered over her face and body like stars.

" _ I see you _ ," she said, her voice deep and smooth. There was no trace of fear or anger in it. Na'vi voices often sounded deeper to human ears – their larger voiceboxes had a lower resonation, although the effect was lessened somewhat by the different makeup of gases in the Pandorian atmosphere.

" _ I see you _ ," Hayley replied, having recovered herself. " _ I am Hayley King, a friend of Jake Sully _ ."

" _ I am Onui'lk te Ikolu Le'ajir'ite. You are a dreamwalker, then, am I correct? _ "

Hayley nodded. It was a struggle to follow Onui'lk. It had been a long time since she had been able to converse with a native – she hadn't realized how much of the na'vi language had been slipping away from her. Adding to this difficulty was the strange accent that this woman had. She was not of the Omaticaya, it seemed.

" _ I am a dreamwalker _ ."

" _ The body of a dreamwalker, Normspellman, is here. He must come join his body soon. I am taking care of him, but it is a struggle. I do not know how much longer I will be able to do so _ ."

Hayley had last seen Norm when he had returned to Trudy's bedside. She had said a brief goodbye to him before she had raced back to the link unit, to help Matt. She had told Jake about it on the way to the Tree. One of the things they would be negotiating over the course of the night was Trudy's transport back to Earth; she had a severe spinal injury, and needed the medical equipment back there in order to fix it. Parker Selfridge had been sympathetic, which genuinely surprised Hayley; still, he wasn't optimistic about it.

Even if we get her back, he had said, they'll make sure she's breathing and throw her in jail for life. They're not going to fix her spine on her benefits.

" _ Norm is still at the base. I do not know how much longer he will be. I will tell him that he is running out of time _ ." Hayley wasn't looking forward to having that conversation. She didn't want to bother him with this, not now. If Trudy was leaving, would Norm go with her? Would they both wind up with a life sentence for treason?

" _ How is his mate? _ "

_ His mate? _ Hayley wondered.  _ How did she know about Trudy? Had she spoken with Norm? _

" _ She is very badly hurt, but alive at the moment,"  _ Hayley replied." _ She may go back to our home planet, to heal. But I do not know. She fought with the na'vi today. The humans are greatly angered with her _ ."

" _ I see _ ," Onui'lk replied. " _ Norm may go with her, and leave his body behind _ ."

" _ There is a chance. I must speak with him first." _

Onui'lk nodded. There was a silence between them, for a moment.

" _What will you do?_ ” Onu asked. “ _I have heard what the others are saying. They will let some humans stay. Will you stay here, or return?_ "

The question took Hayley off guard. She had planned on staying on Pandora indefinitely, but a lot had changed. There had been a battle, and many people would be leaving. She didn't know which of them would be her friends. And maybe it would be better to leave – she had been accepted, briefly, among the People, but she wasn't sure it would happen again. She thought about how she could express this to Onui'lk.

" _ If I stay I want to be part of the People. But I do not know if they will take me. I am willing, but I know that it is difficult for you to trust me. _ "

Onui'lk laughed at this. Her laughter was bright and melodic.

" _ It is only difficult to trust one that you have not seen. I see you, Hayley. Perhaps it would have been different if things had not happened in this way. Perhaps I would have been more cautious. You are, after all, from a new world. But I see you now. You have a good spirit. You are open to me, and do not seek to hide anything. You can come with me, and I will show you the ways of my People _ ."

What an invitation! Despite all of the things Onui'lk had said about her, she couldn't help but be a little cautious herself.

" _ But what if the rest of your People deny me? _ "

" _ They will not, I promise. I will let them see you and they will know."  _ Onui'lk grinned. _ "They will find you somewhat strange, as I do, but they will trust me. I will show you everything. I will teach you." _

She was so open, Hayley thought, her head reeling. The Omaticaya had been so guarded. It was true, everything she had said, about being more cautious in different circumstances. Still, she couldn't believe it. After all that happened, with Grace Augustine and the school and the banishment – she was going to be accepted again as part of the People.

Hayley was overcome. She lowered her head.

" _ I can not tell you how grateful- _ "

Onui'lk laughed again.

" _ Do not be this way. It is simple. I have fought today and slain many of your people, and for that I am sorry. Your people slaughtered the matriarch of my clan, and that of the Ikran clan, and for that I am sorry as well. But I do not wish to harbor hatred and sorrow in my heart any longer. It is not you who caused this to happen. Let us move on, and mourn together afterwards, together. _ " She extended her hands.

Hayley extended hers in turn, five fingers each held by four. Hayley felt the sting of tears behind her eyes. She couldn't believe it. Maybe she was being too optimistic, but she didn't care. She would try.

" _ All right, I will. First, though, we see what comes by dawn _ ."

Onui'lk nodded.

" _ We will see _ ."

 


	7. Chapter 6: Departure

Chapter Six: Departure

 

The negotiations were complete by dawn.

Jake Sully and Parker Selfridge, along with the remaining clan leaders, discussed the terms of the human’s surrender. Neytiri and several other Omaticaya took turns translating between na'vi and english as the participants debated back and forth. Onui'lk and Hayley watched from a short distance as they sat together among the faintly glowing tree roots. Hayley would try to explain certain concepts that Onui'lk did not know, while Onui'lk would correct her if she used the wrong word or grammar construct in her own tongue. Hayley noticed other na'vi watching around and behind them, trying to pick up the gist of the conversation from the responses of the other clan leaders and their own conversation.

In the end, Selfridge couldn't guarantee that humans would stay away from Pandora forever.

"Even if the RDA keeps out of Pandora," Selfridge had said, "That won't stop other colonists. You're going to have to deal with humans coming here from other places, looking for a new life."

"The na'vi will allow human settlers to come," Jake had replied, "as long as they respect us and live in harmony with the planet. As long as they are able to live like us, we will accept them."

" _ Humans live on other planets than one _ ?" Onu said, keeping her voice low as not to disturb the proceedings.

Hayley explained as best she could. When humans had first left Earth, she said, colonies had been first established on the Moon and Mars in the home system of Sol. Terraforming projects were underway at both locations, but it was a highly expensive process. It was easier to travel to planets that could already support life. Pandora was the most recent of a handful of such planets discovered by humans. It was possible that future colonizers would be interested in the planet.

" _ It is quite something,"  _ Onu said, " _ traveling to and living on other worlds. I wonder if we will ever leave our home planet." _

" _ It is better not to need to _ ," Hayley replied. " _ Humans do not have a choice in spreading themselves over many planets if they are to survive _ ."

Onui grew silent for a small time, watching as Selfridge spoke. She looked over his face and body, the clothes he wore, the oxygen mask on his face.

" _ I can not imagine what life without the tsaheylu would be like _ ," Onui'lk said at last. " _ Your people seem lost, cut away from bonds, you see _ ." She gestured with her hands, moving them away from each other, trying to indicate disconnection. " _ Perhaps humans seek to restore their connection with the world through artificial means _ ."

" _ Your people do not bond with everything _ ," Hayley countered. Onu had touched a nerve, sending a pang of longing through Hayley's body. It was true – she was only here artificially. Her real world still lay in the bowels of Hell's Gate, and even that place was an artificial construct itself.

" _ There is no need to bond with every individual if we are all connected to a whole _ ," Onui'lk replied. She smiled. " _ Eywa is everything that is and was – once you know her, you come to know everyone. We can not help but succumb to conflict with others now and again, but that is only because we are not perfect. Only she is." _

Hayley noticed a movement in the crowd. Mo'at walked among them to reach Jake's side. She bowed her head slightly, letting her beads fall before her.

"Tsu'tey wishes to speak with you."

Jake nodded. 

"Tell him I'll be right there."

Tsu'tey lay on a stretcher among the roots of the Tree of Souls. Mo'at had tended to him well; Jake noticed blood-smeared wrappings over the largest wounds, while smaller cuts on his face and arms were covered with a plant salve that glistened. Despite his broken and battered body, Tsu'tey still looked fearsome in the remnants of his war paint. As Jake and Neytiri approached, he struggled to raise his head. Mo'at crouched behind him, supporting his head as best she could.

" _ I see you, Jakesully _ ."

Jake knelt at his side. He bowed his head, and then looked into Tsu'tey's eyes.

"I see you,  _ Tsu'tey te Rongloa Ateyitan _ ."

Tsu'tey met Jake's eyes with his own. His hand reached up to grip Jake's arm. Jake did the same, wrapping his hand around Tsu'tey's forearm. Neytiri knelt at his other side, smiling faintly at him through a mask of grief.

"Are the people safe?"

Jake nodded. "They're safe."

Tsu'tey's body went limp. Now that he knew the struggle was over, the strength he had previously amassed to fight simply melted away, and the fierceness of his expression faded. Reaching behind his head, Tsu'tey winced as he felt the bloodied stump that had been his queue, turning his head to show Jake.

"I can never ride again, or bond with my woman – or hear the voice of Eywa," he said, his voice thin. "I can not lead the People. You will lead them, Jakesully."

Jake shook his head slowly. "No. I'm not officer material."

Tsu'tey tightened his grip on Jake's arm. His voice was calm again.

"It is decided. You will do the duty of Olo'eyctan. Set my spirit free."

_ Set his spirit free? _ Did he mean –?

"I'm not killing you."

Tsu'tey closed his eyes. "I am already dead."

"No."  _ No, not this, brother. Please. I don't know if I can do this. _

"It is the way. And it is good. I will be remembered – " he smiled, opening his eyes to look one last time into Jake's. " – I fought with Toruk Makto, we were brothers – and he was my last shadow."

Tsu'tey shifted, moving his hand from Jake's arm. Jake took Tsu'tey's hand in his own, gripping it hard. Drawing his knife with his other hand, he moved forward, blocking the light of the rising sun.

" _ Forgive me, my brother. Go now, to the mother spirit _ ."

The fallen warrior made no sound. Jake forced himself not to look away. Through a haze of tears, he saw hundreds of tendrils begin to sprout from the root bed beneath Tsu'tey. They enveloped him, growing to meet his severed queue, and connected him to the earth. The glowing pulse of energy that surrounded him flowed into the ground, becoming fainter with each beat until it was still and dark.

Jake pressed his forehead to Tsu'tey's, still warm from his life. Rising to his feet, he turned to Mo'at.

"I will lead the People. I will try."

Mo'at nodded. "You will be a good leader. Tsu'tey knew this."

Jake cleared his throat. If he was going to become a leader, now was the time to begin. He turned to his clan.

"We're going to send the humans back, now, back to the stars."

Neytiri translated for him, her last words drowned in a resounding cheer.

" _ Maru _ !"

Braids flying, tail snapping, Onu sprinted across the airfield and leapt into the arms of the taller na'vi warrior, who embraced her back with all his strength.

" _ Onu, little sister…I am glad to see you alive _ ," he exclaimed, squeezing her in his strong arms. They both laughed with relief, holding each other close. Maru'atwe was a tall, muscular na'vi adorned with a fearsome array of feathers and bones of hunted palulukan. Two thick stripes of red had been painted on his body and the sides of his face along with smaller strokes of black and white. Under the paint, his features were bold and strong, but welcoming, and his smile was almost boyish as he laughed alongside his sister.

" _ Brother, we have won _ ," Onu declared, pulling away. Taking her bow in hand, she raised it in the air as a gesture of salute. " _ We have won _ !"

Maru raised his spear in turn, and shouted a victory cry. Onu joined him, ululating, and soon every na'vi in Hell's Gate was yelling in triumph. Hayley yelled with them, raising her assault rifle in the air and shaking it. She bared her teeth, hissing. Even now, she felt the strength and courage of the combined force of the na'vi clans. She wanted to paint her body and fight among them, to be a warrior, to conquer all threats together…

Then she spotted Norm.

As soon as she saw his expression she knew something had gone wrong. He was wearing army fatigues and had the same gun she could shoot with her avatar’s right hand gripped in both of his. She walked over to him, crouching beside him to match his height. 

"She died during the night. Brain hemorrhage," Norm said. He looked to the tarmac.

"I'm sorry, Norm," Hayley replied.

"She was amazing," Norm said, as he looked to the sky.

His hands tightened on the gun.

"I should have listened to her. She wanted to go to Eywa. Instead, she bled to death on a table, body  _ and  _ mind."

He shook his head.

"I'll never get to hear her again. I could have brought her to the tree, she could have passed through and…" he stopped, voice choked with feeling.

"Maybe it's not too late," Hayley offered gently. "We should bring her to the tree, quickly."

"It's no use. Her brain is too damaged. She's gone."

"It's not your fault, Norm," Hayley protested, but she could only watch as he struggled with his emotions.

"I'm staying here," he said. "I want to join them, the Omaticaya. I want to become a na'vi, permanently."

"The way they tried with Grace?"

"Yes."

Hayley thought about the ramifications of Norm's decision. It meant he could never go back to Earth – but then again, he was a criminal now. Still, he could remain in his human form and reside in Hell's Gate, taking part in both of the worlds that were now going to exist on Pandora. Why forsake human life so soon? Hayley certainly wasn't prepared to leave her real body behind. Maybe it was Norm's way of coping with Trudy's death. Maybe he couldn't stand being human anymore.

Either way, Hayley was already feeling a sense of loss. How often would she see him if he joined the Omaticaya, the clan that had clearly ostracized her? Perhaps, in time, they would grow to accept her again, but until then –

"I'll miss you, Norm," she said. "I'm not ready to make a decision like that, not yet. The team will miss you too. You were a top-notch anthropologist."

Hayley felt her heart skip in relief as she saw Norm smile faintly.

"Thanks, but I'll still be an anthropologist, just minus the anthro half."

The term anthropology meant "the study of humans",  _ anthro  _ being the "human" half of the discipline. 

"Nice one." Hayley grinned at Norm.

"Na'vipologist just doesn't have the same ring, unfortunately," Norm continued.

"Maybe there's a word for it in their own language."

Norm nodded in agreement.

"Maybe."

They gathered the humans.

Gun in hand, Hayley watched them form a line, filing into the Valkyrie looming overhead. Jake and Neytiri were present, standing alongside Norm and Max. Onu and her elder brother stood further down the line, weapons readied. Hayley also spotted Li, Lucas, and the other avatar drivers here and there. Together, among with scores of na'vi warriors, they watched their enemy retreat. They cheered one last time as, watching from a safe distance from the airfield, the Valkyrie launched into the air with a resounding roar.

Maybe it wasn't over. But, for the moment and for many years to come, they were safe at last.

They feasted and danced, at the Tree of Souls. And after everyone had their fill, they gathered around the tree to perform the ceremony of passage for two of the warriors that had helped to bring them peace at last.

Hayley was among them, alongside Onu and her brother Maru. As the glowing strands enveloped the base of her queue she suddenly felt herself being drawn into the consciousness of hundreds of other na'vi. Immersed in such a multitude of individuals, Hayley was taken aback by the realization of how much the same they all were together. They all felt joy in their hearts at being free and keeping the great web of life intact, and the earth shared their joy. They heard Eywa welcoming the two visitors from the stars, having seen their strength and worthiness through countless eyes and minds. As they all became further enmeshed, they thought as one –

_ Eywa, let them become People. _

Jake was first. From all angles they saw Neytiri cradling Jake in her arms, bringing him forth to the dias and laying him there. Mo'at led them in the chant that would focus their collective will in bringing him from one side to the other.

As he floated out of his human mind into the link, Neytiri removed his mask and kissed his eyes, one after the other. Hayley felt Neytiri's worry herself as she moved to Jake's avatar body, cupping his head in her hand.

Hayley felt a jolt, and for a brief moment she, they all became Jake. They saw the dying Earth, the filthy streets and decaying buildings, the smoky air. They saw another war, this time the humans fighting amongst themselves. They felt the memory of the bomb blast that took his legs in unison, shuddering against the blast. They ran among the trees, soared with his banshee. And then, as briefly as the knowledge had come, it was sucked away, gathering itself into the vessel that lay upon the dias.

Jake's eyes flew open, pupils contracting, looking up to see Neytiri, lips parted and smiling at him.

"My Jake."

Neytiri helped him to his feet. Jake looked around, as if ware for the first time in his life. He felt the roughness of the roots under his feet, the coolness of the moss and other foliage. He inhaled the fresh air, filling his lungs. He wanted to run again, like that first time. But instead he kissed Neytiri, and every na'vi present understood and rejoiced with him.

Hayley heard the echo of a thought close by;

" _ It is our time." _

Onu was on her feet. Intoxicated by the link, Hayley rose to her feet, uncertain and wobbling after disconnecting. Behind them Norm stood by his own avatar body. He looked at Hayley.

"I'm ready."

Queue in hand, Onu connected with Norm's body. After a few moments she was bonded, and helped Norm's avatar to its’ own feet.

Hayley smiled.

"Do you want me to carry you too?"

Norm returned the grin.

"It's alright."

Avatar and human walked together to the dais. Jake stood, Neytiri at his side, and watched as Norm made his way to the stone platform, carefully choosing his path among the multitude of glowing roots. Mo'at began the chant again, and the na'vi responded, willing each other to begin again. They swayed back and forth as they continued their bond with each other.

Onui/Norm walked up to the dias as well, and Onu willed Norms body to lay down among the roots, curling into a fetal position. Satisfied, she delinked and knelt beside his body, resting for a brief moment before she rejoined the others in summoning Eywa.

Mo'at called, the chorus answered, and Norm too faded as tendrils began to pierce the base of his skull.

"See you on the other side, Norm," Hayley said, taking off his mask.

As soon as she reconnected herself, Hayley felt Norm's memories flooding the vicinity of the tree. Through his eyes, she saw his own experience at the University, saw lecture upon boring lecture and suffered through the anxiety of a multitude of tests. She felt his elation upon first connecting with his avatar in the test runs on Earth. She saw him boarding the valkyrie bound for the  _ ISV Venture Star _ . Once again, these memories faded as quickly as they had came, channeling themselves into Norm's avatar.

Exhausted, Hayley delinked and went over to Norm's body. His eyes flared open, but his pupils did not contract; instead, they dilated with pain. Norm began breathing rapid, shallow breaths, as the pain in his chest registered in his new brain.

"Hang in there, Norm," Jake said, kneeling beside him, "you're doing great."

"Yeah, Norm," Hayley agreed. "It's gonna hurt like hell for a bit, but you'll be riding your very own Ikran in no time."

Norm moaned with the pain.

Jake turned to Mo'at.

“Is there anything you can do for him?"

"It's fine," Norm rasped. "I'm thirsty, though."

Mo'at spoke in rapid na'vi, and a male soon came with a pouch. Hayley helped Norm carefully sit up, guiding the water to his lips. He drank deeply, coughing a little afterwards.

Neytiri offered Jake a bundle of herbs from the case slung around her body.

"Eat this, it will help the pain."

He took the herbs, bringing them to his mouth. He chewed slowly on them, and when at last he had finished he slumped backwards. Hayley helped him back to the ground, then stood.

"What happens now, Jake? What do we do next?"

"Tonight we rest at the Tree of Souls," Jake replied. "Tomorrow the clans will ride home, but we will stay here. I will send scouts to find a new home for our people."

"What about the humans?" Hayley asked.

"Talk to the other avatar drivers. Ask them what they want to do. They are welcome to join the Omaticaya, if they want. They will have to face the same trials I did. Tell them they can join with their avatars too, when they're ready. And make sure you stay in contact with us. We'll come and visit Hell's Gate now and again."

Hayley nodded. Tonight, she would rest. As for tomorrow – there were many tomorrows ahead, and too little time to think about them.

 


	8. Chapter 7: v79 Plans

Chapter Seven: v79 Plans

VLOG ENTRY: 79

Location: Living Quarters

Researcher: King, H. ID# 026 ADC 018

P.I: Lucas, M. ID# 004 GNA 045

LST: 7:12:45:02

Date: 08/25/2154

TRANSCRIPT

I'm not sure why I'm doing these anymore. Are we sending these back to Earth?

A lot happened last night, and I'm not sure I even believe all of it. Trudy's dead, Norm's a na'vi, Sully is the new leader of the Omaticaya. It's hard to believe that things can change like this, so fast, after spending eight years of my life here. What did we do in those years? We took samples. Grace wrote a book, the defining book on xenobiology. We had the school, but now there's nothing to show for it now.

All that time, and I never got to really see the inside of na'vi life.

My department in Hell’s Gate is xenobiology, which means that I'm more concerned with the way things on Pandora work, the way the ecosystem functions as a biological machine. I'm relatively new on the scene compared to how long Dr. Augustine has been here, but I was lucky enough to be a part of the bioengineering project that gave me an avatar. I didn't do much exploring outside...I was mostly on the testing side of things.

I've had two avatars. The first one was one of the very first. It looked very human. Let me see…rounded ears, humanoid nose, stunted tail, no bioluminescent markers. Sterile. Produced no offspring that survived for more than twelve months. I'm sure the full document report is filed somewhere – I should reread it some time. In some ways I felt more at home in it because it was closer to my own form.

The team I was working with felt that the na'vi would reject my avatar were I to make contact with them, and so my first avatar was vivisected, and then incinerated.

I've probably mentioned all of this before, but I don't feel like looking over my older entries. I appreciate the speed of videologging but I am more inclined to write. When I write I remember things better.

My current avatar isn't cutting edge, comparatively, but for all intents and purposes it looks like an adult female na'vi. The only visible difference are the five digits instead of four, but that's more of a neurological requirement than anything else. If we were to spend a lot of time in an avatar with four fingers we would begin to lose the ability to use our own fifth finger. Having five toes is more of a balance issue, but the same problem holds. We still have the problem of phantom tails, but I've been lucky – mine doesn't hurt, I just feel it there, from time to time.

So I guess I should talk a little about current events.

I have made contact with the Eastern Ikran Clan via  _ Onui'lk te Ikolu Le'ajir'ite _ . Female na'vi, approximately 170, maybe 180 pounds Pandorian weight. Fairly strong build, waist-length hair. I'll try to see about getting a picture of her, if she'll let me. She's a hunter, or a warrior, or both. I don't know if this is common of females in her clan.

I'm already playing anthropologist.

I'm caught between worlds now, between fulfilling my duties as a biologist and my potential future as a member of the clan.

I don't know what's going to happen to everyone now. To all the people who stayed behind. A lot of them say they stayed in the pursuit of science, but, I'm sorry to say this, but it's bullshit. They don't want to go back to our dying Earth, and they don't want to suffer the consequences of their defection there.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Pandora is the only planet we know of that has a biosphere anymore, so really, it's the only place to study plants and how organisms interact and support each other in a natural environment.

That being said, I know that people have other plans in mind.

Not that I blame them, it's not like I'm any different.

For now, I'll be documenting my interactions with the clan and with Onui'lk, as well as submitting my research as always.

Hayley out.

END OF VLOG LST: 7:17:32:10


	9. Chapter 8: Renewal

Chapter Eight: Renewal

"I hate doing videologs."

The mess hall was unsettlingly empty. Hayley wondered just how many people had boarded the ship on the previous day. A dozen or so people clustered around the solitary table she herself sat down at with her plate of rations. The group was a mixture of avatar drivers and scientists, with no maintenance workers or marines in sight.

"Why are you still doing them?" It was Li. Hayley was relieved to see that he had made the choice to stay. Despite him grating on her nerves at times, it was good to have someone familiar around.

Hayley paused to think. "I…don't know, really. Maybe I'm hoping that someone out there wants to listen to them."

"It's too easy to get personal.," Li replied, putting his glass down. "You forget that someone else is going to be listening to you in the future."

Hayley dug into her own food. There were too many questions to ask. Would they be responsible for the ration supply? She had never been particularly good at growing things, despite being talented at studying them. The ration supply would run out eventually without fresh incoming shipments, so they would have to take special care in maintaining the gardens in the sprawling hydroponics complex in the lower levels. There was only so much the machines could do. And what about the machines? Didn't they need unobtainum to continue running, or repair themselves?

There was far too much to think about.

"Lucas wants us to meet in the briefing room in half an hour," Li mentioned.

"All right, but it's got to be quick, whatever he has to say," Hayley replied. "Village life starts early."

*

"I'm sure the first thing all of you are wondering this morning is what we're going to do from here on out."

Despite its starkness, the briefing room always left an impression of those entering Hell's Gate. It was the first room that every recruit gathered in on waking up from cryo. It was a taste of things to come.

Matt Lucas, imposing in his older human form, addressed them all from the front of the room. The blinds had been opened to let the early morning sun filter in. Through the window, Hayley could see the forest encroaching on the far fence. She watched banshees twirl through the air, settling here and there on the ramparts.

_ Eywa is reclaiming the earth. _

"We are scientists. We pursue the truth; we crave understanding. We want to uncover the world's mysteries, to understand the underlying mechanisms of reality and of life."

He paused.

"I see no reason why the absence of the RDA should prevent us from continuing to pursue a greater understanding of both the ecology and the cultures of Pandora," he continued, looking out the window.

"In fact, or continuing research may help our own species in turn…

"Jake Sully summed it up when he spoke of humans 'killing their mother'. We will never know the extent of the damage humankind has done, because we can no longer study our native ecosystem on Earth. We failed to respect the system of life that supported us and a plethora of creatures that no longer walk the face of any planet.

"As humans ourselves, we must jointly bear the responsibility of being a species that, up until the present moment, have been nothing but destroyers of life in the universe. We nearly allowed ourselves to replicate the damage done on Earth here. We now have the opportunity to halt the spread of extinction in our galaxy.

"Pandora is our last hope. There may be other planets that support natural life in the universe, but it will be too late to find them unless we can salvage our precarious situation. Unless humans find the means to support themselves, they will go extinct before they reach the next star.

"We have discovered a mushroom-like organism here that feeds on radiation and breaks down toxic compounds in the soil. The bioluminescence of the night provides a chemical, renewable light source for all the planet's inhabitants. Imagine if we were able to engineer these biological adaptations for life in Earth's atmosphere, and introduce them to our home world? In time, we might even be able to reintroduce older, native species from the seed banks and restore our planet.

"And so I propose you all do the following; carry on your research. Live among the na'vi, if you can, and learn their ways. Explore the jungle, collect more data, run tests. We will continue to submit our findings on the superluminal communications networks. In time, we may make discoveries that will allow humanity to survive.

"If we are successful, then perhaps in time, when humans return to Pandora, they will do so without guns and explosives. They will only take what they need to help the human race, and leave this world in peace.

"The na'vi, I have heard, speak often of balance, of the borrowing and returning of energy. We need to learn from their example, so that the human species can use energy in a way that can be renewed, not wasted."

Taking his gaze away from the window and the forest beyond, Dr. Matt Lucas turned to face the motley arrangement of Pandora's last human inhabitants.

"With your permission, I will oversee this project. If anyone opposes this, please speak now."

There was silence, then applause.

"I'll miss this place."

She had said the words under her breath, speaking out loud to no one in particular. Even in the daylight the beauty of the Tree of Souls was undiminished. Hayley, linked into her avatar, stood at the lip of the crater. Taking one last long look at the tree, she turned to join Norm, Onui'lk, Jake, Neytiri and the rest of the Omaticaya in the funeral ceremonies.

They had dug carefully through the winding roots until they had made four hollows in the earth. Inside them lay three humans and a Na'vi. The body of Tsu'tey, curled in a fetal position like the rest, dwarfed the bodies of Jake, Norm and Trudy. Naked, their bodies had already begun to be penetrated by the tendrils of the tree.

Jake and Norm stood in front of their own graves, sacred seeds in hand. Neytiri knelt before Tsu'tey's grave, Onui'lk in front of Trudy's, and together they lay the seeds over the bodies of their comrades, both gone and still present. Ninat led the clan in a rising chorus, the voices of the Omaticaya creating a beautiful and eerie melody.

Hayley joined the others, sprinkling palmfuls of earth over the graves. Dozens of blue hands worked together, raining the dirt down over the hollows, until they began to fill. The singing swelled. Hayley did not weep, but in that moment she could feel the collective grief wash over her, as if she was still linked with them all.

Looking to her left, she saw Neytiri still kneeling, weeping openly, moaning in grief. How many that were close to her had died? Her father Eytukan, her mount Seze and her teacher and mentor Grace had already been laid to rest - this was the fourth burial ceremony she had presided over in the past few days. Hayley could only hope that it would be the last for her for a long time. 

Grace.

Grace was gone, but she had passed into the eye of Ewya and for that Hayley was reassured. She wanted to talk to her, badly, but the Tree of Voices had been destroyed, and the Tree of Souls was a silent place, for prayers to be heard only but not answered. With each sacred seed that fell, though, a new tree would eventually rise, and Hayley hoped that she would survive long enough to be able to talk to her mentor and friend again.

As for the others, Hayley had barely known Tsu'tey or Trudy. She felt grief for Norm's sake, and for the others, but she had not lost like they had. In fact, her life was beginning, and her excitement at joining her own clan was tinged with a pang of guilt for feeling joy in such a moment. Still, she couldn't help it.

" _ In our clan, we mourn until we have lost our sorrow, and then we feast and dance in memory of that person which passed through the eye of Ewya _ ," Onui'lk said. " _ It is the same with the Omaticaya, I believe." _

" _ Will we stay, then, if they celebrate tonight?"  _ Hayley replied.

" _ We can return in the evening. For now, I must return to my own clan. They will be performing the last rites for our own matriarch soon, and as part of the clan, we must attend them." _

Hayley wasn't sure if she could bear another funeral, but there was no choice.

Onui'lk smiled. Reaching around her neck, she grasped at a bone ikran flute similar to the token she had given Norm. She blew on it, and it whistled soundlessly. Eskareil emerged from the nearby trees, dark wings flapping. He landed a short distance from them, keeping away from the others involved in the ceremony.

" _ Come _ ."

" _Wait, I need to talk to Norm_ _first_."

Onui'lk nodded and Hayley went over to Norm. He was standing over Trudy's grave, but he was no longer crying. Taking seeds from a pouch at his side, he knelt and was scattering them over the freshly turned earth. Hayley approached, crouching down beside him. It was strange, seeing him garbed in the feathers and beads and bones and leather of a true na'vi, but it somehow suited him. She felt slightly self-conscious in her tank top and khakis.

"Neytiri gave me these to plant," Norm said, folding the earth over the seeds.

"Flowers?” Hayley asked.

"Yeah. Maybe I'll try planting some Earth species later. The na'vi don't believe in cutting flowers to lay on graves."

"How are you doing?" Hayley asked, tail twitching.

"I'm better." Norm smiled, meeting her eyes. "I'm not totally there yet, but I'm getting there."

"I'm glad," Hayley replied. "She saved the Tree of Souls. Even if they don't know her, the na'vi are grateful to her. I'm sure they consider her a hero."

"She was a hero. I wish I could have saved her. She deserved to live." Norm paused, and Hayley could see him struggle for a moment. Retaining his composure again, he cleared his throat. "But I've learned now, though. I know that death can be better than life, in the arms of a goddess. I hope that somehow, some part of Trudy made its' way to her. I still hope it wasn't too late."

Hayley placed her hand on Norm's arm.

"I have to go for now. I'm coming back tonight, for the burial feast."

"I'll be waiting."

As Hayley was leaving, she heard Norm speak again.

"Good luck with Onui'lk and the clan."

She turned around to see him standing, smiling at her.

"Thanks," she said, waving her hand in a last farewell. Hopping up onto Eskareil, she gripped him tightly with her legs, wrapping her hands around Onui'lk's waist. Struggling with the weight, Eskareil beat his wings and cried out until they lifted off the ground. Launching into the sky, they skimmed over the trees, gaining speed until they could get higher into the air.

She had flown on a banshee once before, but it was different in the daylight. It was nothing like riding in a Samson, either. The trees grew smaller and smaller until it was difficult to pick out any single feature of the forest. Hayley felt herself reeling from the height.

It was utterly thrilling to fly. Enormous hometrees sprouted up from the forest below, branches twisting into the sky. They banked and soared between them, sometimes close enough to touch the vines hanging from their foliage. Vine-covered clusters of rocks floated lazily around them, and from time to time Hayley could feel a light mist from the waterfalls above them. As if reading her mind, Onui'lk urged Eskareil upwards until they were among the floating mountains. They plunged through the clouds; Hayley could feel her stomach drop every time they emerged into the sunlight, revealing the ground far beneath them. She whooped as loud as she could, exhilarated.

Onui'lk glanced over her shoulder with a grin and pointed. Hayley looked ahead to see a faint but sparkling blue ribbon ahead of them.

The Eastern Sea.

_ Almost home. _

 


	10. Chapter 9: Dance of Life

Chapter Nine: Dance of Life

A bright sapphire ikran shot through with bands of silver glided through the air, rising in slow circles to catch the warm draft of air rising from the steaming jungle. The hunter perched atop its back crouched, swaying with the movements of his mount, shifting their combined balance in minute adjustments to ascend with the wind.

Gripping the handhold wrapped between the ikran's antennae in one hand, Maru'atwe raised his arm in a gesture of greeting.

They were still far, but from a distance Maru saw his sister raise her own hand, and wave it back and forth slowly. He could see that she was riding with the Dreamwalker, Hailei Kin'.

As he drew closer to them they began to bank, drawing the large spirals that would bring them down to earth. Tilting his own mount, Naela, he spun downwards, guiding the ikran into drawing his wings tighter to speed the descent. When they had caught up, they eased, and unfolded into their entire taut length.

“Ai! Ai!” Maru shouted. His sister echoed the cry soon after.

Two ikran and three na'vi descended together, spiraling like kites in the wind.

The land began to become more defined. There had been four strips of colour before - the green of the jungle, the earthy gold of the field beyond, the grey of the rocky shore, and at last, the blue of the sparkling sea. In the light of the sun the gleam was almost unbearable to look directly at.

Closer still, and Hayley spotted a settlement clinging to the shore, sprawling back through the plains. The most prominent structures faced the sea; there were four of them, constructed from wood and covered with leather.

" _ What are those large buildings for? _ " she asked, reaching in front of Onui'lk to point them out.

" _ They are for gatherings, and rituals _ ," Onui'lk replied, raising her voice above the roar of the wind.

The entire Ikran clan seemed to be assembled around the buildings, a small clearing in the center. Behind the main gathering, Hayley saw a small assembly of huts where, she assumed, the clan lived and slept in. The village extended from the cliffs by the sea to the edge of the jungle.

" _ Do you ever go into the jungle _ ?"

" _ Of course, to collect things and hunt, or to take shelter from land beasts like palulukan. We live by the shore because the ikran live there. Some, that are not hunters, choose to live in the trees nearby. You cannot see them from the sky, but they are there _ ."

Turning out of the spiral, Onui guided Eskareil into a smooth dive, which curved upwards to slow them. The ikran then began to bat its wings with a  _ whoomp _ , and they gradually hovered to the ground. Behind them, Maru and Naela made a similar landing.

They had landed just behind the assembly. Onui'lk delinked and helped Hayley to the ground. Her legs were shaking still, after the exhilarating flight. She wondered to herself if flying ever got old with the na'vi. She couldn't imagine herself becoming bored with the feeling of gliding far above the earth – or Pandora, to be more precise.

“ _ The messenger told me that you were bringing the dreamwalker. _ ” Maru said, after he had embraced his sister. 

“ _ Yes, and she can speak our language, _ ” Onu replied. “ _ You may ask her anything you like. You do not have to go through me. _ ”

“ _ I remember you from yesterday, _ ” Hayley said, as politely as she could. Now that Maru was no longer wearing his war paint, Hayley could get a better look at him. Maru’s braids ran up from the sides of his head into a braided mane, running along the top of his skull, that fell off to one side. He had woven shells and beads into the braided mohawk. He had a flat, wide nose above full blue lips, and his eyes were light gold and intense.  _ I see the resemblance,  _ Hayley thought to herself.

“ _ It is good to see you again, _ ” he said. “ _ The clan knows about you. Some of them are wary of you coming here, but the acting chief approved Onu’s request for you to come here. So pay them no mind, _ ” he smiled. 

“ _ Just be mindful that the clan is in mourning, _ ” Onu reminded them.

“ _ I will, _ ” Hayley nodded, her lips set in a thin line. 

As Hayley approached the others on the shore, she saw a red-painted na'vi lying still on the ground in the middle of the assembly. Standing in front of her was a man she could only assume was the spiritual leader, covered in bones and skulls and beads. He appeared to be just past middle age, and still stood tall and erect as he chanted, waving his hands over the body.

" _ This is our clan leader _ ," Onui'lk said. Hayley turned to look at her, and she could see that her friend was struggling with her own emotions.

As Hayley stood there, in her tank top and cargo shorts, she realized that the others were staring at her.  _ I’ll have to change at some point. I don’t like sticking out like this. _

The rest of the people joined him, chanting and singing. Many began to weep, raising their hands to the sky. Hayley, overcome once again by the collective emotion, joined them in singing. Onui'lk raised her bow in the air in remembrance of the battle, and soon her brother and the rest of the hunters raised theirs.

After a time the spiritual leader motioned for them to stop, and they all grew silent. Silently, he lifted his arms, palms upturned, in the direction of the sea. Beyond them, in the setting sun, were outcroppings of dark rock springing up from the sea. Looking closer, Hayley could see a great flock of Ikran circling each, with many more roosting on the rock's surface.

Soon, however, the ikrans left the rocks and began to circle the shore, flocking above them. The shaman closed his eyes, lifted his hands high into the air, and then quickly brought them down.

_ A sky burial?  _ Hayley wondered, a bit nervously. She was uncomfortable with the burial practiced by some extinct cultures on earth, which involved leaving the dead on a mountain for the birds to consume.

Several Ikran descended upon the body, lifting the prone form in their claws. They glided off the edge of the cliff, shrieking.

Pointing his hand towards the retreating body, the shaman cried out, and the Ikran loosened their grip. The clan matriarch fell through the air, landing in the water and quickly sinking beneath the surface.

_ A water burial. _

" _ So we come from the water, and so we return to the water _ ," the shaman said, addressing the crowd.

The crowd repeated the mantra in union.

" _ So we come from the water, and so we return to the water _ ."

Onui'lk suddenly strode forward, making her way to the front of the crowd. She dipped her head, bowing slightly, bow in one hand.

" _ Erluei, may I speak with our people _ ?"

The shaman nodded his head, and Onu took several more steps until she stood beside the dias. She turned to face them.

" _ My brothers and sisters, we have fought well on this day and we are free. We must mourn the loss of the fallen, but we must also now rejoice, to bring back life into this world of death _ ."

The crowd murmured, voicing their approval of this sentiment. Hayley heard several ululations ring out.

" _ And though we have lost much, my people, we have not lost as much as others. The Omaticaya, another family from the jungle and the clan of the Toruk Makto, have lost their children, their mothers, and their home. The dance of life will be difficult for them tonight, and thus I propose to you this, now; that we fly to the Omaticaya, with food and drink, and celebrate as two families the continuance of life. What do you say? _ "

" _ This is a good thing, Onui'lk _ ," Erluei replied.

" _ I am not your leader _ ," he continued, addressing the larger crowd, " _ but I hope to guide you in matters of the soul. This joining of the clans is good, and I ask you now to do as our huntress has spoken _ .  _ Tomorrow we will elect our new leader, but tonight we will show the Omaticaya the extent of our hospitality. _ "

The Eastern Ikran clan cheered, and the crowd quickly dispersed in preparation for the evening's festivities. Hayley came to Onu's side.

"So, we're bringing the party to their place."

Onui'lk nodded, her familiar grin surfacing to her face.

" _ So it seems _ ."

They found Jake Sully and the others by an enormous tree, in the heart of the jungle. The Omaticaya clan was making preparations to move into a new home. It would take centuries for them to properly shape the tree, but for the time being they had made it a hospitable enough place to live. Jake had already sent his people out to gather the supplies necessary to make new cooking pots, hammocks, a new loom, and countless other things they would use in daily living. Several hunters were already scouring the jungle looking for food, and some of the females were gathering fruits in the near vicinity.

One by one, the members of the Eastern Ikran clan descended to roost in the expanse of branches that extended far above the canopy. They scrambled through leaves and vines until they reached the trunk, making their way downwards to the heart of the tree. The mosses and other growth in the hollow centre had not yet been properly cleared, but it was easy enough to navigate through them.

They presented the Omaticaya with the food they had gathered, pouring the intoxicating fruit extract had on special occasions into drinking bowls they had brought with them. Others still had brought cooking supplies, which they intended to leave with the Omaticaya to help them establish themselves in their new home.

Soon there was drumming, and singing, and dancing. With each drink Hayley found that her movements became more fluid, albeit a little less predetermined. The drink left her mind feeling pleasantly fuzzy, and whenever she looked at the bioluminescent lanterns hung from the wood of the new Hometree, or the fire blazing in the centre of the tree's core, she could swear that she saw a faint aura of multicolored light glowing and swaying around them.

At first she danced with Onui, who then clapped her on the back and assured her she would be back as soon as she had danced with the others, and left her on her own. It was hard to remember, but she might have danced with Maru'atwe. Yes – she could still feel the grip of his strong arms around her shoulders, his hands gripping hers as she spun around in her blissful state.

But then there was a blank, and she was alone again, as alone as one could be while being jostled about in a mass of twisting bodies and hands gripping sloshing bowls.

_ Goddamn, this stuff is strong. _

"Hayley?" she could hear a familiar voice calling her name. It seemed to float lazily above the music and conversations. Hayley was mildly surprised that there were still conversations going on.

"Who…hold on, where are you…"

Five fingers wrapped around her arm, and she immediately recognized the lanky form of Norm's avatar. But it wasn't an avatar anymore, at least she remembered something happening and now he was –

"You came back," Norm said, smiling. Hayley was entranced by the way the orange light of the fire reflected over his azure skin.

She watched him as his eyes traveled up and down the length of her body, returning to her eyes.

"You look really different."

Hayley felt the heat of a blush rise into her cheeks, and hoped that the blue of her skin would mask the colour. Before they had left Onui'lk had insisted that she be dressed in a more traditional costume, which Hayley was grateful for, in a sense. Disappearing into her hut, she had emerged with a glittering gauze covered in tiny emerald beads, which had covered only her breasts and tapered off into a small pendant swinging around her bellybutton. The loincloth she wore was made of the same material, and draped around her thighs in the fashion of a short skirt. Onui'lk had braided her hair, making zigzag patterns on her skull. She had taken a handful of wooden beads from a small box and placed several on the end of each braid. She was wearing green and white feathers as well, sticking out from one ear.

" _ Now you are beautiful _ ," Onui'lk had concluded, after dressing her up.

" _ Not as beautiful as you _ ." Maybe it was unfair to compare, but Hayley was a little jealous of Onui'lk's own dress of silvery beads, not to mention the way she swayed her body as she walked. Hayley had never quite gotten the hang of sex appeal. It wasn't something that was looked for in her line of work.

Dressing lightly, however, was more of a necessity than anything when living near the equator of a planet, in jungle and on the scorching savannah. Hayley realized that she would have to become comfortable showing off this much skin eventually.

"How are you?" she blurted out at last, fumbling with her clothes, making sure she was covered.

"I'm ok," Norm said, seemingly oblivious. He looked around them. "Everything seems sort of like a dream now."

"I know what you mean." She was having trouble holding onto reality herself.

"How are things with your new tribe?"

"Good, good," she answered.

And, before she could check herself –

"Do you want to dance?"

Norm hesitated for a second, but he nodded.

"Sure."

It was strange, taking another hand like hers in her own after being around so many that were different.

They swayed together, a little awkwardly at first, but they soon grew accustomed to each other's movements and swayed together in unison.

"I miss her," he said, as they danced.

Hayley wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"I know, Norm. It will get easier with time. Not that I have any experience."

Norm nodded. He stopped dancing. Hayley came closer.

"I'm going to have to be one of the People now," he said, looking down. "I'm going to have to learn how to hunt and fly on a banshee and choose a woman of the clan."

_ Why is he saying this? _ Hayley put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, almost upsetting her balance.

"They're all strangers to me. They don't know me. I'm from a different planet, for Christ's sake. I don't have anything in common with anyone here."

"Norm…it's going to be ok…" She wasn't even sure of what she was saying.

"They don't find me attractive…they say I look too human. God, Hayley, what am I doing?"

And before she knew it, they were in each other's arms; lips pressed together, queues brushing up. There was only a spark, but with that spark Hayley felt her mind flooded with loneliness and grief, and pain.

Startled, she pulled back.

"Norm," she said, trying to recover herself, "we're drunk right now. Everything feels different. We can talk about it in the morning, if you want."

Norm nodded, still looking forlorn, but a little less so.

Then she felt Onu pulling at her arm, guiding her away into the crowd and back into the festivities.

 


	11. Chapter 10: Biomechanics

Chapter Ten: Biomechanics

_ It's crazy in here, Norm. Wish you could see it. _

_ First thing I remember after the fire and falling was a fuzzy light, almost not there. I swear I heard someone singing. Then something hit my face, and I stopped remembering. _

_ I got sucked back, and then I started to drift apart. _

_ I'm still me, but I'm not really me anymore. I'm her, now. I'm lots of people. _

_ I don't remember everything – I was away from her for a long time after I died – but I remember you. I'm not sad anymore. You'll see what I mean when you come here. _

_ Take your time coming. You have your whole life to enjoy. Glad I could help give it to you. _

"Fuck."

Hayley’s boots hitting the ground, and felt her body double up, fingers running fiercely through her hair.

Her hand came down in a fist, the impact absorbed by the gel lining of the link unit.

"Fuck!"

There was no hangover in her human body, but she still felt like shit. Hayley went rigid, body quivering, breath shallow. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to let her embarrassment and anger fade, and soon enough, the shaking subsided.

The link room was empty but for her, the lights half-dimmed. She sat on the link unit and swept her eyes around and over the various instruments and mechanisms.

_ All this, to make what they already have. _

It made sense to her, what Norm had done. But it also didn't. He wasn't like them at all. He was an anthropologist in a world without  _ anthropos _ . And what of her? It was true that there was plant life on Pandora, and it was strange and exciting, but Hayley wondered if she would ever stop feeling like an outside observer, a cold-hearted scientist and truly become a part of this world. She thought of her avatar, artificially constructed, with genes fabricated from bits and pieces of her DNA and some na'vi they had probably slaughtered in the beginning of this whole mess. Was the woman she was half-cloned from with Eywa now?

And now she didn't even feel that comfortable in her own skin. It seemed that all was left to her was her soul, flickering back and forth between fleshy vessels.

At least Norm had that much. At least he had one body to call home.

She had never thought of him as all that attractive, either in personality or in looks, but when she stepped into her avatar Norm was the only one who she could connect with, tsaheylu or not. Hayley shook her head slightly. No, that wasn't necessarily true – she was becoming more and more attuned to Onu's mannerisms – but with Norm it was easy. They came from the same place, from the same bubble of academia which had somehow remained nestled among the filth and fiber optics of their home world. They had been colleagues back there; they had shared a professional relationship for some time since landing on Pandora. He was the only piece of home she could cling to beyond Hell's Gate, the only human being she could find when inhuman herself.

It was ridiculous, she realized as soon as these thoughts surfaced in her mind. The Golden Age of Earth was over, and there was nothing left to even abandon, and yet she was feeling nostalgic. The Na'vi were better than humans – peaceful, harmonious, and strong – and yet she still went looking for the weak, flawed heart beating among them. Not that she really thought Norm to be weak, but he was human, and so carried with him, as she did, a destructive and violent history that was strangely attractive. Jake was also human, she acknowledged, but he was noble enough to deserve to be one of the People. She and Norm had yet to prove themselves.

But kissing him had been a mistake. They had been lonely and lost, not in love. They had been drunk – well, at least she had been drunk.

"Fuck."

And how was she supposed to face him now? She was furious at herself for the transgression – she had done the worst thing she possible could have to comfort him. He loved Trudy, and Trudy was dead, but of course that would make him love her even more for a time. He didn't need some fucked-out-of-her-mind girl on na'vi LSD trying to lay a move on him. Especially when that girl had no idea what the fuck she was even trying to do with him.

Comforting and being comforted. It just didn't work, and now she had screwed things up. And to make things worse, all of this when they were supposed to be celebrating the victory of life over death. 

Her hands began to knead the interior of the link unit with a passion.

After all, if she was going to go through with this, she was going to be mated for life. Grace had explained how it worked over coffee months before. Each time a couple mated, their genitalia grew more and more to fit the other. Each time they performed tsaheylu, their queues grew more and more sensitive to each other to the exclusion of others of their same species. If they tried to bond with anyone else, the signal was still there, but it became weaker and weaker. This was especially true of young na'vi attempting to bond with another of the same age. Something about the pheromones.

The healers and spiritual leaders could still bond with most, and exert their influence in powerful ways, Grace had said. They hadn't gotten everything worked out yet, but they were trying.

They were going to try until several young na'vi were mowed down by gunfire in the wicker-and-wood schoolhouse Grace had painstakingly constructed for them.

And Hayley had almost bonded with Norm that night. She had, for an instant, felt his pain as hers. She would have to be more careful from now own. What if Onu required her to select her mate from the Eastern Ikran clan? What if she just didn't want to be with Norm for the rest of her life? What if she decided to stay with one foot in the human and another in the Na'vi world?

It was all up in the air, and she didn't like it at all.

There was a burst of static coming from the far edge of the room, as a computer screen flickered into life. The calm female voice emenated from the electronics:

"Incoming transmission, Earth, Tango Base. Commander Boers, encrypted frequency."

Hayley leapt from the link unit and jogged over to the computer terminal as it continued to repeat its message;

"Incoming transmission, Earth, Tango Base. Commander-"

"I got it," Hayley snapped as she swung herself into the revolving chair and pulled up to the desk. "I got it. Initiate transmission."

Superluminal communications allowed for instantaneous communication between Earth and Pandora. Something to do with quantum physics, which was definitely out of her realm of knowledge. At any rate, someone on Earth was trying to contact them, and Hayley could only imagine why.

The screen flickered once more, and the dark face of a man in his thirties appeared on the screen. Hayley took a deep breath and assumed her most professional manner, face going politely and formally blank.

"Are you with the RDA?" asked the man whom Hayley could only presume to be Boers.

"This is xenobiologist Hayley King. There are no more RDA members left on Pandora. If you like, I can refer you to the current top-ranking official, Doctor Lucas-"

"I don't have a lot of time. Selfridge sent a transmission. The networks picked it up and the whole planet began to riot. We're barely running on emergency power."

"Why? What-"

"We need unobtainum back home, Dr. King. You know about the energy crisis. We had enough resources to run until the next shipment got back here, but once people heard that it wasn't coming – well, they knew they only had so long."

Hayley had put her fingers to her open mouth without realizing.

"Oh my god."

Boers nodded. "We had reserves that would have kept us going, until the news got out. People are slaughtering each other in the name of "conserving energy". There are rioters trying to break into every major RDA compound on the planet, trying to find a way onto a spaceship, any spaceship, that might bring them to Pandora."

"But they can't come here. I mean, I don't know what they should do, there must be-" Hayley stammered.

"I know they can't all come to Pandora. I would, if I could, but you guys are running out of resources yourselves, aren't you?"

"I-I don't know. We must be running on unobtainum, but we have solar too, and some water and wind power."

"Not enough to sustain an entire planet's worth of people," Boers replied solemnly.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"There's nothing any of us can do anymore, but sit tight and wait. The RDA down on our end seems to be planning something but they're leaving the military out of it. They're not telling anybody, and they've kept any further transmissions from the incoming shuttle to themselves. Anything they send your way will take seven years, at any rate – plenty of time to prepare yourselves."

"What if they try to nuke the planet?"

"They won't. They're running out of resources – why waste more on trying to destroy what they need?" He paused. "You guys aren't fucked like us, not yet. I would ask you to try to speak with someone about getting the whole production up and running again, but I assume you sent the miners and technicians home too."

Hayley nodded. "I think so. Jake Sully was in charge of it. I can speak with him. I can try talking to Lucas. Maybe we can get the RDA to bring the shuttle back, see if we can ask the na'vi to allow us take a little more unobtainum."

Boers nodded. "Maybe. It's a long shot. I can't get authorization to contact the Venture Star, but see if you can on your frequencies. I'm not sure if they left anyone out of cryo – it's generally procedure for these trips to have a rotating staff monitoring for transmissions and unusual readings. It seems that that is all you can do, for the moment. The governments are working on keeping the people calm and stopping the panic."

"I'll try contacting them right away, and I will speak with the na'vi as soon as possible."

"Thank you. We'll keep in touch?"

"Of course."

Boers nodded.

"Boers out."

The screen went white until Hayley mumbled to the computer to end the transmission. Scrolling through documents and folders with shaking fingers, she attempted to open a link between the base and the Venture Star.

It took some time for the sensors to locate the ship, and begin to track it along its acceleration. The computer informed Hayley of these facts as she stared numbly at nothing in particular.

_ I should be telling Lucas about this _ , she thought as the screen blinked with the outgoing transmission signal. But she didn't know where he was, and she needed to get this done immediately. Every hour was another hour where the Venture Star was accelerating, moving faster and farther from the planet.

What was she going to do if they responded? Ask them to turn around and start mining again? Invite Parker Selfridge back into the base? Tell the na'vi that sorry, the humans were more important than them after all?

The na'vi would slaughter them.

Her fingers paused over the CANCEL option on the screen.

"Shit, shit, shit," she repeated under breath like a mantra.

Wasn't she supposed to be one of them? She didn't want to be responsible for the deaths of billions, though. Surely the na'vi would understand – the needs of the many over the needs of the few.

Hayley started weeping, her eyes stinging and vision blurring the glowing text of the blinking OUTGOING message.

"Oh God…"

They had been doomed from the start, hadn't they? It was their fault they had gotten into this fucking mess in the first place. It wasn't right to take it out on the na'vi. But it wasn't right to take it out on the people on Earth who hadn't wished for or even conceived of nuclear war and fossil fuels and greenhouse emissions…

"Hello? Who is this?"

Hayley looked up to see Selfridge's smug face in the middle of the screen. She looked him dead in the eyes, through the pixels on the screen, through subspace, right into his eyes.

"Fuck you, Selfridge. FUCK you."

Hayley exploded out of her chair. Pulling her arm back, she launched her fist forward into the screen, smashing into it. A thin, long spider web of cracks blossomed from her lacerated knuckles.

"Transmission terminated."

She hit the screen again. More spider webs. She tried pulling it out of the terminal, but it held. She screamed hoarsely, primally, baring her teeth, tail whipping -

Then she was human again, and she saw the wreckage of the screen and became aware of the cold, empty metal room, like a cage. Rubbing her eyes hard with her thumbs, she turned her back to the screen and walked away, back to the link unit.

_ I need to be somewhere with life, and light, and with fresh air to breathe… _

 


	12. Chapter 11: Sides

Chapter Eleven: Sides

The first sight to materialize before her eyes was the prone form of Onu. She was nestled in a bed of roots, smooth blue eyelids closed, round face peaceful in sleep, lips partly open. Her chest rose up and down beneath a glittering bead mesh, striped breasts visible through the moving folds. All around them, above and below, na'vi were sleeping, bodies illuminated by the patterns of morning light that fell between the leaves and branches of the tree's canopy. Hayley and Onu were lying near the center of the great entwined structure, bathed half in the same light, half in shadow. The smell of warm, musty earth and the sweat of male and female Na'vi permeated the air.

Reaching out, Hayley placed her hand on the sleeping Onu's shoulder. Onu breathed deeply, eyes fluttering, blinking, then opening wide. The half-open mouth formed a sleepy smile.

" _ That was a good night. Too good _ ."

Hayley said nothing. She started to shake, and her eyes blurred.

Onu's eyes opened in surprise and concern. Leaning in, she placed her hands on Hayley's.

" _ Hailei, what is wrong _ ?"

A sob forced its way out of Hayley's throat. A sob of fear and horror and rage. Then another came, and before she could stop herself she was weeping and crying aloud.

" _ Come, come, Hailei," _ Onu said soothingly, drawing Hayley up into her arms, holding her close while she sobbed into her shoulder. Around them, others were stirring, woken by the noise.

"I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do _ ," _ Hayley gasped. "They're all going to fucking die because of me!" Her voice echoed sharply through the canopy, and in the distance the weird cries of the jungle animals echoed in response. Other na’vi stirred, moaning or grumbling in response to being awoken far too early given the night before.

" _ Calm, Hailei _ ," Onu said, gently but firmly. " _ Try to tell me what is wrong. You went to your other body…did something bad happen while you were there _ ?"

" _ Y-yes _ ," Hayley said, gaining a tenuous grip on her emotions. " _ A message came from my home world. Many people are going to die because there will be no more silverstone _ ."

" _ I have heard of the silverstone _ ," Onu replied gently. " _ I heard that it is needed to give life to your world. But to keep your world alive they were killing ours. That is not how the balance of life should be preserved _ ."

Hayley cleared her throat, struggling to keep her emotions under grips. She was aware of more and more na'vi watching her from the branches.

" _ The man I spoke with, he wants the others to come back to Pandora, to take more silverstone from the earth so that the humans can live. I know that the People will kill them all if they come back. But if I do not try, I will feel responsible for the death of my own people _ ."

" _ Hailei, if you tell them to come back, they will die, your people will die, and more of us will die _ ," Onu said at last, shaking her head. " _ I do not wish to sound callous. I care about your people because I care about all life, and I care for you. But to take from this world again will only destroy both in the end _ ."

Hayley felt fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

" _ I know you are right, I know it is our fault, but I am scared for my people, Onu. I am scared for those who did not choose to die, and will die because of mistakes they played no part in. If there was something I could so…Onu, I would do anything to save them. But I do not know what I can do.  _ "

Onu nodded. Reaching over, she took Hayley's queue in her hand, taking it from behind her and placing it upon a root. Hayley watched as it began to embed itself into the wood.

" _ Ask her _ ," Onu whispered.

" _ Jake _ ," came the raptured breath, sighing along with the breeze that ruffled the leaves and branches surrounding them.

They lay in a bower of entwined branches extending far from the core of the tree, suspended in the air. The forest below them was an earthy smear of trees, waterfalls and winding rivers, the Hallelujah mountains just visible beyond the hills and mist-pooled valleys.

It was like flying.

They lay together in the tree, Neytiri straddling Jake, moving along his body back and forth, beads clicking rhythmically as her hair swung. As she moved into him he would thrust, piercing deep until her body would tense with the pleasure. Through the bond he felt her, became her, and felt himself be penetrated in turn. As he moved his hands over the length of her body, they both shuddered in their female form. She bore down harder in response, and together they felt the warm tension along the length of their member.

Every time he was with Neytiri like this, ever since the first time they had mated under the pale violet glow of the Tree of Voices, Jake had come more and more attuned to her. She was his female counterpart, half of a whole of a greater being that they had become. In understanding her he was coming to understand himself. Through her, he felt the effect of his actions, his words, on her; looking through her eyes into his own, he felt her love for him, her devotion, which changed the way her saw himself. When they moved together, he came to understand what it was to be a female, to be a na’vi, to be Neytiri, and so in turn he understood what it was to be himself.

As they came closer together, they moved fluidly between each other, back and forth, until they both filled each other's minds. They moaned softly in unison as they climaxed together, Jake filling her, and Neytiri taking him in. Sweat rolled from their bodies as the tension subsided and they collapsed against each other, letting the branches take their combined weight.

Neytiri shifted from his hips, rolling to the side. Gently taking the queues in her hands, she separated them, and Jake felt himself snap back into his own spent body, felt his ribcage expanding and collapsing. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handful of leaves.

" _ My Jake _ ," she murmured, placing a hand over her belly, tracing the slight fur over it in slow circles.

Their mutual ecstasy was cut short by the sound of footsteps from further down the branch. Scrambling to his feet, Jake quickly slung his loincloth around him and emerged from the alcove, through the branches, to greet the person approaching them.

It was Mo'at . She greeted him with a slight nod of her head.

" _ Olo'eyktan _ ", she said, "your presence is needed. Come."

"What is it?" Jake asked, following her as she strode back along the length of the branch towards the tree's core.

"There has been a visit from a daughter of Eywa," Mo'at said, turning her head to the side as she continued to walk.

"What does that mean?"

"A spirit has come to speak with you."

Jake shook his head.

"A spirit?"

Together they descended the spiral staircase of the tree's tendrils. Below them Jake could see a crowd gathering in the heart of the tree. There was someone in the middle, but he couldn't make it out.

At last they came close, and the crowd parted. Stepping through, Jake saw two females, one avatar and one na'vi, standing in the middle of the throng. He recognized them both, but couldn't place the na'vi women's name. He remembered the other one as Hayley.

" _ I see you, Olo'eyktan _ ," Onu said.

" _ I see you _ ," Jake replied.

"Nice to see you again, marine," The other woman said in an all-too familiar condescending tone.

"Grace?" Jake said, taking a step back.  _ What the hell? _

"Who'd you expect, numbnuts?" Hayley-Grace replied with a knowing smirk. "What other spirit would wanna to talk to a jarhead like you?"

"This is way too weird," Jake stammered. "How the hell are you here? How did you get into, you know-"

"Look, we don't have time to talk about the mechanics, and to be honest, you always slept through my xenobiology lectures back at the base. The longer I stay, the harder it will be for Hayley to get back into her brain, so I need to keep it short.

"There's a problem back on Earth. Without obtanium, they've lost their source of energy. It would have been fine for the next few years but Selfridge had the tact to send a broadcast back to Earth and now the planet's in an uproar. They know they're doomed," Grace said, her voice losing some of its bravado. "And we have to help them."

"How?"  _ Did I do this? Is this my fault? _

"We can't let them keep mining," Grace said. "That will only destroy the na'vi, and Eywa, and they’ll never bear responsibility. But there's another way that might work.” She paused, to take a breath. “Before Eywa was a collective of trees, she was a fungus, just as Mother Nature evolved back on earth.”

_ How do you know this?  _ Hayley asked blearly. Everything was a cacophony of impulses around her. 

“I’ve been with her,” Grace spoke aloud through Hayley. “For a while, now. She and I have been talking. And Jake,” Grace said with an almost impish grin of excitement, “Eywa has confirmed some of the theories I’d been working on for  _ years. _ There’s a fungus that still grows on the planet’s surface, that can grow in almost any conditions. It lays the neuronal and biological foundation for the rest of the planet’s life.”

“And you’ve never been able to find this stuff before?” Jake asked.

Grace shrugged. “We didn’t think to look at the fungus, not right away at least. There was a lot of higher-level stuff the RDA was more interested in, like the xenoneurological network. Not to mention the na’vi. If we can get a hold of the founder’s fungus, and get it to earth...there’s a chance we can restore Earth. It moves through the atmosphere, converting elements that na’vi or humans would find toxic, into energy for itself. Eywa thinks it might have even survived travelling through space.”

“Ok, Grace,” Jake put up his hands. “You’re right about the me not being a scientist part. So what can we do?”

“Lucas is still around, isn't he?” Grace replied. “He’ll know what I'm talking about. I need you to get into contact with him and bring him samples of the founder’s fungus." Grace handed Jake a piece of thin bark resembling parchment paper. Jake took it, looking it over.

"The names are written in na'vi."

"I figured you might not know the scientific name," Grace said candidly. "Ask the People, they'll know where to find it. When you have samples, bring them it to the base and give them to Lucas."

"I still don't really get it, Grace," Jake said. "How are we supposed to send this plant back to Earth? We don't have a ship any more."

"Fungus, Jake. Lucas can encode the genome. With the genetic sequence, scientists back on Earth can start manufacturing the plants."

"We'll get it, Grace,” Jake affirmed. “We'll bring them back."

"Good," Grace replied. She seemed to be growing more fatigued. "I should go now. I shouldn't stay for too long. It's getting harder to animate this body."

Will you ever come back again?"

Grace gave another knowing smile.

"We'll see."

And with that, Grace bent her legs, sitting upon the ground. Drawing her queue, she planted it into the root.

"Trudy says hi," she said, as her eyes rolled upwards. She left, body collapsing against the tree. Onu knelt, gently removing the queue and checking for signs of life.

" _ Grace is gone _ ," she said, helping the body to the ground and turning to Jake, " _ but Hayley has not returned. _ "

Jake nodded. "Tell her that Hayley is back at the base," he said to the others, and one clan member stepped forward to make the translation.

Jake waved the parchment in the air, holding it high for all to see.

"My brothers, sisters, - we have work to do."

 


	13. Chapter 12: Void

Chapter Twelve: Void

She had agreed to it, feeling the approval resonate within her mind and her old mentor's without making a sound. She felt herself become displaced, and would have almost gone through the link into the earth had she not felt the sterile, mechanical tug that accompanied a delinking.

Snapped back into her own body, Hayley felt a deep disorientation followed by a throbbing in her right hand. Light flooded her sensitized eyes as the unit opened, clamlike, with a hiss. She felt hands lifting her body up, felt a wet stickiness on her back. She heard voices but no words.

A light was flashed back and forth in her eyes. Limp, head hanging to the side, she concentrated in an attempt to blink. Nothing yet. Through the confusion came a squeeze in her gut, and adrenaline began to flood her body.

Someone grabbed her hand, and there was a bright explosion of pain. She heard herself moan incoherently, faintly. This was good – it meant some motor control was getting through, she thought through the haze. So dizzy, though. She felt her arms and legs tingle in waves.

"…some localized function." – words, finally, were coming. It was Dr. Lucas, as far as she could tell. And someone else was speaking now; Li. Li was touching her face. Trying to get a response out of it.

“Dr. King, I need you to blink if you can hear me. Once for yes, two for no." It was Lucas.

One eyelid slid lazily along her eye. What was happening to her hand? There was pressure, and circular winding motions, and a hot pain emanating from the side.

"She's responsive," Lucas said. They were moving – Hayley watched the patterns of light and dark as strip bulbs flashed above her head through the corridor. They had placed her on a gurney.

"Did anyone attack you?"

Two blinks. The computer, Selfridge. Her hand – it hadn't hurt when she had gone to the link, but she hadn't looked at it. The monitors were made of a glass-like compound that was possible to fracture into shards. It had been a stupid thing to do.

Did you injure your hand?"

One.

She heard the screech of doors opening, watched the ceiling as they passed through them.

"Are you aware of the cause of the paralysis you are experiencing?"

One blink. The emergency delink had done it. The probability of it happening was low, but in some cases it had completely immobilized drivers within their own bodies, until medical help arrived. She moved the fingers of her left hand experimentally, and felt as her index and middle twitched. She was getting gradual restoration of function, which would make things easier for what little medical team remained in the base.

"We had to do an emergency delink for two reasons. One was the erratic brain patterns we were just picking up. The second being that you were bleeding badly from your hand. Are you aware of any unusual thoughts or feelings?"

Two blinks.

"Do you know what may have caused the erratic brain patterns?"

One blink. Her lips were so dry. She tried to wet them, and succeeded in moving her tongue upwards by a fraction. She began to notice errant tremors through the length of her body.

There was a bump, and she realized they were in the medical facility. They wheeled her into a corner, and hands proceeded to hook her up to various machines. Electrodes were placed on her skin.

"The medics are going to provide stimulation to your muscles," Lucas replied, "in order to try to sync them with your central nervous system. It will not be painful."

One blink, and a moan. She began to feel gentle buzzing sensations throughout her body.  _ Pity they don't need to do this to every part _ …she thought, still giddy from shock.

"Applying general anesthetic to injury."

There was a small pinch, and her hand slowly went numb.

"You have fragments of the monitor still embedded in your hand," Lucas said. "You should only feel some tension, or a tugging sensation. Blink once if you need more anesthetic."

There was a tugging sensation, and Hayley saw a bloodied fragment of the transparent monitor clink into a shallow metal dish at her side. She coughed twice, and moved her lips experimentally. They moved, it seemed, adequately enough now.

"Maaath," she said, cringing internally at the sound of her voice.

"You are regaining more motor function. Good," Lucas said. He was hovering over her, friendly blue eyes striking from above. Glancing to the left, she could also see Li's, darker but piercing.

Another clink, a larger fragment.

"Quickclot is working effectively," one of the medics replied. "someone test her blood type in case we need to do a transfusion."

"Oh," Hayley blurted.

One of the medics came into her field of vision. It was a man in his 30s, brown hair, a slight beard.

"Positive or negative?"

"Pos."

"Thank you. We will double check, but I'll see if someone can get an O-positive pack down here."

Clink.

Shit. Had she really done that much damage?

She concentrated.

"Grace."

"Did she say Grace?" Li asked. "Did you say Grace?"

Blink.

Lucas's expression changed, understanding.

"The erratic brain patterns. We had hypothesized this."

Blink. It was still difficult to talk, but blinking was becoming faster, more fluid.

"What do you mean?" Li said.

Lucas turned to Li. "Dr. Augustine and I had hypothesized that it was possible that the Pandorian network could store the brain-states of organisms. What purpose this served was still hotly debated between Grace and myself, but it seems that there is a possibility that the theory, at least, has been confirmed. Grace, apparently, has found a way to enter Hayley's avatar."

Blink.

Li shook his head.

"I remember the time she took us to that tree…"

_ When she let us all connect, together, to show us how even the solitary tree could bring us together, could let us tap into each other's minds. But you joked about it then, because you were scared, and you hurt Grace because she thought you were mocking her. I still don't even know if you really believe in Eywa. But I do, Li. I haven't been through her eye quite yet, but I've seen her and she's real. _

"Some of the trees are more receptive than others," Lucas explained. "The Tree of Voices and the Tree of Souls, for example. Grace died at the Tree of Souls. Her brain state should then, according to the theory and what little evidence we've gleaned, be exceptionally clear."

_ Believe me, it was. _

Blink.

Clink.

"We're finished removing the fragments," the medic said, swiftly removing the tray and dumping its contents into a biohazard bin. "We just need to apply the organic adhesive to prevent the lesions from deepening."

_ Glue me back together, boys. _

"Is she still in your avatar?" Li asked.

Blink _. I think. _

"What happens if you try to link up with her in there?" Li wondered aloud.

"We should give Grace time, to do what she needs to do," Lucas replied, "and we need to give Hayley time to heal. Let's see if we can get someone over to the last location Hayley was in."

"Hometreh."

Lucas nodded. "The new Hometree, of the Omaticaya?"

Blink.

"Excellent. Li, link up. Get one of the men to fly you in. Don't forget to take a throat mike with you. Keep tabs on the situation for me as much as you can."

Li nodded, eyes flicking to Hayley's one last time.

"See you on the other side," he said, and disappeared.

"We need to run a series of tests now, to assess your motor abilities," the medic said. "You're going to find this extremely tedious, but it's necessary, to make sure what we have on the instruments matches your actual state."

Blink.

"Please move your index finger."

_ When you said tedious… _

Some of the na'vi crouched instinctively at the sound of the Samson – the war had not been over long. The scouts Jake sent up the length of the tree reported to him that it had landed on the far side of the river skirting the roots of the tree on the west side. Yerik darted through the roots, in fear, passing them by. One Omaticaya threw a bola, tangling a lone yerik's legs and taking it to the ground, where the male quickly finished him with the slice of a dagger to the heart. They began to hide the animal, cutting off the meat in thick slabs to be cooked over the numerous fires burning in the tree's alcoves.

The rest of the People milled about uneasily, watching, until Li's avatar emerged with hands raised above his head.

" _ I do not seek to harm _ ," he shouted. " _ I wish to see the dreamwalker among you, Hayley King. _ "

Jake emerged at the entrance to the tree.

"Come inside."

"She’s still unconscious," Jake said.

Li knelt by the still but breathing form of Hayley. Onui'lk crouched at her other side protectively, hand placed over the woman's head. Li felt for Hayley's pulse, and found it to be fairly strong.

"She has been like this ever since Grace left?"

Jake nodded.

Li pressed his slender fingers to his neck.

"Her status is the same and holding, as far as I can tell. How long do you think Hayley needs before she can link up?"

There was a crackle of static before Lucas' voice came through the throat mike.

"Several hours, at the least. Tell them to keep her warm and comfortable. The avatar should be able to survive without food or water for a little while longer. Just keep monitoring pulse and respiration rates."

"Acknowledged."

"Li is taking care of my avatar?"

Lucas nodded.

"And your friend, the female from the Eastern Clan."

Hayley nodded, adjusting herself on the bed. "Onui'lk. She is a good friend. She'll take care of my avatar until I come back."

Lucas drew his chair closer to the side of her bed. Leaning in, he looked at her with concerned eyes.

"So, what happened?"

Hayley sighed.

"I'm sorry, it was stupid of me. We received a transmission from Earth, and – "

Lucas cut her off with a waving motion of his hand.

"I need to see that transmission immediately."

"It should be in the computer's data storage system," Hayley replied. "I should have come to you, Matt, but I got caught up-"

"It's fine," Lucas said. "I just need to see the transmission. I'm going to talk with someone in tech and see if they can get a new monitor hooked up."

Hayley nodded, feeling her cheeks flush.

"It won't happen again."

Lucas nodded.

"We'll see the extent of the situation. Then we can talk about what our best plan of action is," he replied, standing. "Worry about resting for now. Let the medication do its work. You should be ready to link up soon enough, but stress will reduce the effects."

"Alright. I'll talk to you soon," Hayley replied.

Hayley watched as Lucas strode through the double doors at the end of the medical room, and sunk back into her bed.

_ Shit. _

 


	14. Chapter 13: v80 Progress

Chapter Thirteen: v80 Progress

VLOG ENTRY: 80

Location: Xenobiolab #9

Researcher: King, H. ID# 026 ADC 018

P.I: Lucas, M. ID# 004 GNA 045

LST: 17:13:54:02

Date: 08/28/2154

TRANSCRIPT

 

Dr. Lucas says I need to get some things off my chest. I agree with him, I guess. I mean, talking about a shitty situation isn’t going to change the fact that it’s a shitty situation. An impossible situation.

When we chose Pandora, it meant that we were choosing it over the Earth. We’re figuring out a way to help Earth without hurting Pandora but...I don’t know. I’m skeptical. Especially now that people back home are starting to panic.

I’ve heard the others about sending back plants and DNA codes. But we don’t even know if that will work. Earth’s plants can’t handle the current atmosphere. And even if it works, is everyone going to wear oxygen masks? Besides, it’s the natural resource crisis that started all this, not just the global warming.

We should have dealt with things the way the Omaticayans have. Keeping their lives in balance, not being so greedy for more. But now it’s too late. I can’t help it though - I want to try. 

I have...I have an idea of how to do it. But I’m scared that I might make things even worse. I think it’s the right thing to do. I have to try. 

 

END OF VLOG LST: 17:25:04:32


	15. Chapter 14: Integration

Chapter Fourteen: Integration

“Commander Boers, please come in.

...

Please respond, Commander Boers.”

Lucas rubbed his salt-and-pepper eyebrows, grimacing in fatigue. There was nothing on the comm but a variety of hisses and whines, emanating from a fuzzily glowing screen. 

It had only been a matter of time, thought Lucas, before the others realized what was happening. He had done what seemed natural to him: remain as neutral as possible. He cared deeply for his home planet and the people there, but he didn’t consider their lives worth more than the ones here. His people were the ones with the blood on their hands. 

What would work, his line of thought continued, is a mass extinction. There just needed to be  _ less people _ . Then the energy demands would drop off. Governments around the world had tried to put one-child policies into effect, but the damage had already been done. The president seemed optimistic about her most recent project, but who knew whether the efforts would bear any fruit, especially with the new panic on Earth.

Lucas would only be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was glad he had made it here. He had reservations about merging with his avatar, but that was a decision that could be left for another day. For now, as the new Commander of the base, he needed to find out whether or not there would be any new threats to the planet they were residing on.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Lucas barked, a little too sharply than he’d intended.

“Sir.” It was one of his research assistants, Dupries. She was relatively young, half-chinese and half-french. Her chestnut hair was tied back tightly in an unflattering and somewhat dishevelled ponytail, her eyes wide behind thin-rimmed glasses.

Dupries tightened her fingers around her clipboard.

“Sorry to interrupt sir. But I have the results you requested.”

Lucas flashed her a small but charitable smile. He gestured to his desk, spilling over with papers and old cups of coffee. “Please add it to the pile.”

Dupries nodded. Stepping forward tentatively, she placed the printout in what she judged to be the least precarious position. Lucas continued to watch the screen, blithely unaware of his assistant’s valiant attempts. She cleared her throat.

“Sir.”

“Mmn?” Lucas grunted, his eyes never shifting.

Dupries adjusted her glasses. 

“May I ask you a question about these results?”

“What is it?”

“The aberrative signals...what do you think is causing them?”

Lucas shifted back in his chair, turning at last to meet her gaze. “After I read the results, I intend to send out a team to find out. I have my suspicions.” Lucas replied. “And Dupries?”

“Yes sir?”

“Please keep these results confidential. Do not discuss them with anyone else.”

Dupries nodded, backing herself up until she was able to close the door to the comms room. 

Lucas returned to the world of static. 

“ _ Let me show you. _ ”

Hayley and Onu sat together on a rough-hewn cliff near the edge of the sea, practicing her skills at spear throwing. Above them, the twin suns of Alpha Centauri shone, turning the sea below into a dazzling, sparkling expanse. The large gas giant above, Polyphemus, was a blue-tinged shadow in the cloudless sky.

The sharp, salt air was intoxicating. Hayley wondered, though, if she would ever get used to the sweltering heat. It was easier to bear here, out in the open with the breeze. Eskareil sat perched behind them, occasionally shuffling her wings so as to settle into a better position.

Onui’lk placed her azure hands over Hayley’s. Raising them, she guided the shaft of the spear into position, just over Hayley’s shoulder.

“ _ If you keep it here, it is easier to line it up with your eye, and you will throw more accurately. _ ”

Hayley tilted her hand back slightly, tensed her muscles, and threw the spear. It hit the tree this time near the roots. Onui’lk had coached her to hit in the middle, or where the heart would be in most animals.

Onui’lk raised her head, smiling in approval.

“ _ Better this time. _ ”

Hayley grinned back.

“ _ Thanks. I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it _ .”

“ _ Are you feeling better? _ ” Hayley’s companion asked her.

“ _ You mean after....after what happened? _ ”

Onu nodded, beads clinking together softly, her expression grave. 

“ _ I’m fine,” Hayley rushingly reassured her. “I...I just wish I could have seen her. She was a good friend of mine _ .”

“ _ I have heard that she was also a good friend to the other People as well, once.”  _ Onui’lk replied.  _ “I remember the school that the Forest Clan had with her. I wanted to go myself, but it was too far and I had yet to choose my Ikran _ .”

“ _ Onu...do you think I will be able to choose an Ikran soon? _ ” Hayley hesitated to ask, but she was keen on it. She had flown with her friend, and she was dying to try it on her own, if she could. 

She felt a pang of guilt shoot through her gut as she remembered yesterday. How could she be preoccupying herself with thoughts like that when...

“ _ Are you thinking about home again? _ ” Her friend was quite perspective. Onu’s ears were perked, her tail flicking anxiously. 

_ She really cares about me. Why? What did I ever do for her? _

“Yeah.” She couldn’t meet Onu’s gaze. She felt a smooth hand on her shoulder.

“ _ You can’t help. It is sad, but - all you can do now is concentrate on your own future and the future of those around you _ .”

“ _ I...I know.”  _ Hayley forced herself to look up into the Na’vi’s’ deep, golden eyes.  _ “Do you think I can be a part of your people someday? _ ”

Onui’lk laughed her hearty laugh. 

“ _ Of that, I have no doubt _ .”

As dusk fell, Hayley delinked as per usual. She ran the wire back to her human form, opening her eye into the inky darkness of the link unit. Instead of swearing this time, she sighed deeply. Fumbling for the switches, she opened the clamshell of the link unit, swinging herself over the lip. She winced as her bandaged hand brushed the edge of the unit as she made her way out of the link room.  

It had felt good to make that vlog. She couldn’t talk about all of her plans, but even verbalizing her emotions had take some of the weight from her. 

She walked down silent hallways to her bunk. 

Matt had asked her to not attempt to contact the Commander again. As the leader of the human colony on Pandora, he was to handle further communications.  _ He hadn’t been cruel or unkind about it _ , she reflected. He had seen the pain she was in, both in her face and on her hands. But now she felt even more hopeless and helpless. She felt trapped. The walls of this place were closing in, suffocating her.

Maybe it was time to give in - to pass through the eye of Eywa and give up on her dying race. Hayley knew though that, even as one of the People, she would carry the guilt and sadness with her for the rest of her life. It was her actions in _ this _ moment, not the past or potential future, that would dictate what kind of person she was.

She needed help. And there was only one place left for her to go to get it.

Norm Spellman was minding some of the Omaticayan children. They were constructing a stick fort on the forest floor, in the shadow of their towering home. Norm helped the littlest ones participate, helping them lift the sticks into the right position. As he fumbled, he heard the melodic chuckling of the nearby mothers. They were glad to have their children occupied while they weaved new hammocks for their sleeping quarters.

There was a younger one, unbonded, that saw with the rest of the weavers. She had been eyeing him as he played. Her name...what was it? Norm racked his brain. He thought it might be Miki-ia. Noticing his attention, she blushed and looked away.

“Norm, the ladykiller,” Jake roared as he clapped Norm on the back. The children giggled at the display, scattering as their chief pretended to be a viperwolf, scooping them up and eating them in jest.

“Do you mind, Jake?” Norm said in mock outrage. “I was building a fort here!”

Jake shook off the little ones. He sat cross-legged next to Norm.

“How are you adjusting to life here?”

Norm shrugged. “Things are getting better. It’s a lot to take in. It’s different now that I’m just...here.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I got lucky, having Neytiri take me in. And things were better before the fight. Now everyone’s got a lot on their minds and hands. But give it time. They like you.” Jake smiled, nodding towards the circle of females as work. 

Norm nodded and smiled faintly. “Yeah I know. This was supposed to be my dream. I guess it just happened all of a sudden, and it feels strange to never go back.”

“I hear you, man. Just focus on passing the Trials. You’ll feel yourself fitting in more and more, day by day.”

Jake rose to his feet.

“I’m gonna go for a ride later today, want to come?”

“Yeah...I could use some new scenery. Thanks, Jake.” Norm said, turning back to the fort and the young Na’vi.

  
  



	16. Chapter 15: Broadcast

Chapter Fifteen: Broadcast

_ Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. _

The pounding reverberated through the building, even down to the basement level.

Sixty-three days. A long time to be living in a steel and concrete basement.

The microwave let out a half-hearted ding. Commander Boers swung around in his office chair, opened the the door of the microwave and grabbed the rations inside. He shoved the contents of the pre-packaged meal into his mouth without a second glance, instead poring over the latest results on his computer display.

_ Thump. Thump. _

For the first time in weeks, Conrad let his mind wander. The work hours and cramped quarters, not to mention the stale food, were probably getting to him. Still, he had to admit, it was unnerving being in what was essentially a combination of laboratory, nuclear bunker and launch pad, with thousands of protesters trying to break in. 

They were all wasting their time. There was no cure to the energy crisis to be found here. No one that they could put into action quickly enough to save everyone, at any rate. 

Maybe they were trying to access the space shuttles. Again, they were wasting their time. Even if they managed to make it into space, somehow, the  _ Venture Star _ wasn’t due for another seven years. 

Boers could understand their desire to escape their dying world. He knew that, unless he went to Pandora on the next launch, he would probably die in the next ten to fifteen years - him and every other scientist on the military base. At least, that was the most current geo-forecast. He scratched the buzz-cut short hair on his head, exhausted. He couldn’t make sense of the results he was seeing. He was trying to compare his data with the collateral results Lucas had sent over, but it was proving to be a challenge.

As far as he had determined, the erratic superluminal communications they had been receiving from Pandora over the past week or so were undecipherable. Lucas had told Boers that he was going to send over a team in the next couple of days to investigate. It was a clear and strong signal, but different from any other they had seen before.

Conrad put his head in hands for a moment. What he was having trouble admitting to himself, what he couldn’t afford to admit to anyone else in this bunker, was that everything seemed to be mattering less and less lately. Everyone was doomed. True, he had secured himself a one-way ticket to Pandora if he could hang on in this base for long enough. But what about his child - would she be fated to grow up in an enclosure just like this, only seeing the world outside through an oxygen mask?

_ Shelly...Nella...where are you? _

_ Thump. Thump. Thump. _

Why wouldn’t they stop?

He couldn’t deal with this anymore. He needed to find some earplugs and take a long-postponed nap. He turned off the screen, leaving the remains of the half-eaten frozen dinner among the debris, and walked down the darkened hallway.

In her eighteen years of life, Neytiri had experienced a variety of human interactions. She had been very young, the first time her father, Eytukan, had taken her to a interspecies meeting. It has been quite...hostile.

Then  _ G’reis _ had arrived, and built the school. She seemed harsh and uncaring to many, especially of other humans - but for her she had kind eyes. She was no baby, like Jake had been. G’reis might not have known much about the People, but Neytiri knew that she was special.

And she knew the woman had loved her dearly.

Neytiri loved going to the school. She had loved learning English. It was a language that bore with it the stamp of many distant and strange cultures. 

She found that she could understand more and more of what was happening at the council meetings. The humans had to stop speaking in front of her once they realized she was telling her father what they were saying. Much had been very unflattering.  _ Slurs,  _ G’reis had taught Neytiri after she had spoken to her mentor about it.

And then there was Jake. So yes, Neytiri had many mixed feelings when it came to humans. 

She thought that things would settle down after they had driven the  _ bad _ humans away. And she thought that they had won. But it had been some time now, and things were still unsettled.

It was not the humans that had passed through the eye of Eywa that worried her. She liked Norm, although he always seemed sad. Jake reassured her that it would pass in time. No, it was the other ghosts, such as that Hailei person, who seemed like they were up to something. Her transformation, from what little she had seen, did not seem to be the same as Jake’s. Neytiri’s intuition was telling her that Hailei still cared more for her own people than those she was also trying to become a part of. 

She could be overreacting, Neytiri considered. But she had trusted too much in the past. Those days had been over when her father was killed and her home had burned to the ground.

They had talked, Jake and her, while nestled in the branches of the new tree. Jake had a vision where humans and na’vi could live together in peace. He told her of his old homeworld, and how he could perhaps some day bring more of the  _ good _ humans here, to save them from their deaths. It was easy for her to be caught up in her mate’s excitement; but when she was gone she found herself weeping at the thought of more fighting, more war, more suffering.

She was the chief’s mate, and future Tahik of the Omaticaya. She needed to be more perceptive is she was going to keep her people, and the new life growing inside her, safe from harm.

_ BZZZZ BZZZZ BZZZZ BZZZZ.... _

Hayley groggily slapped at her alarm clock. The time read 0800. Perfect - Just enough time to rest her human body. 

She found her way, mechanically, to the mess hall. As always, a bare trickle of people were making their way in.  _ Thank god the cook stayed behind _ . On second thought, maybe it wasn’t the cook...it was probably someone who could rehydrate rations in a way that didn’t make them all sick.

Li was there. Hayley felt a small twinge of guilt. She hadn’t really talked to him much in the past few weeks. Not because she didn’t want to. There had been a lot going on lately.

“Hey Li,” Hayley said, setting her tray down in front of him.

“Hayley,” Li said, grinning between bites of food. “Now nice of you to...Grace...me with your presence.”

Hayley gasped, groaned, then rolled her eyes. “Dude, seriously? Wayy too soon.”

“You know how I am,” Li grinned. “I’m not the kind of guy to sit around, wringing my hands in hysterics. I miss her too. What was it like?”

“Didn’t feel like much,” she replied around a mouthful of potatoes. She wasn’t in the mood to explain more, so she left it at that. “So, what have you been up to lately?”

Li shrugged. “I’ve been out in the Samson now and again, doing some recon for Commander Lucas. He’s been picking up some signals from some of the old equipment in the jungle, so we’re trying to pinpoint it.”

“Signals?” Hayley asked, fork frozen halfway to her mouth. “What kind of signals?”

“As far as I know, just some garbled communications from half-broken equipment in the field.”

“That’s strange,” Hayley replied. “I wonder why they’re acting up now.”

“Who knows. It’s probably some magnetic field-unobtainium voodoo bullshit,” Li scoffed waving his hands around for emphasis. “I leave the thinking to the professionals, like you.”

“Li, you’re a professional.” Hayley chuckled. It was nice to have some levity on the human side of things. It had been dearly missing.

“I’m just a marine, Hayley. Maybe a slightly more educated one, but still.” Li looked pensive. “I guess I do have some good basketball game.”

Hayley chuckled. “You have more than that. You’re a wicked mechanic, Li. Remind me to kick your ass out on the court sometime.”

“Big words,” Li replied, with a bigger grin. He punched her playfully in the shoulder. “Have fun out there, kid.”

Hayley opened her avatar’s eyes to see the inside of one of the sea people’s tents. She was alone, surrounded by various bits of art and textile that Onui’lk had been working on long before Hayley had arrived on the scene.

She stumbled blearily out of the tent, into the heart of the village. Children ran around, men and women were cooking, sewing, eating, sparring against each other with wooden staffs, or just lounging in the early morning light and cool ocean breeze.

“ _ Hailei! _ ”

Onu was striding up to the tent, carrying a basket on her head. 

“ _ How was your sleep? _ ” she asked, smiling warmly.

Hayley thought about it. “ _ All right. I got a good amount for once. I had a lot of strange dreams _ .”

“ _ You should tell someone about them, _ ”Onui’lk said. “ _ It will help you remember them more. And perhaps uncover the meaning _ .”

“ _ I have a feeling I know what the meaning of my dreams are, but thank you _ ,” Hayley replied. She had been choking, unable to breathe, everything grey and brown. Not too ambiguous...

“ _ Eat _ .” Onu placed the basket down in front of them. They sat cross-legged on the short grasses. Most of the stalks had dried, but were not scratchy - Pandorian grass had more of a rubbery texture. The sea people wove them into patterns, creating a carpet under which their tents stood. 

Hayley inspected the basket. There were a variety of fruits and nuts, with some smoked meat from the hunt they had gone on the evening before. There was even a loaf of coarse bread. She suddenly wished that she had a tangy hunk of cheese to go with it. There weren’t many lactating mammals on Pandora, so she supposed most of the na’vi didn’t bother to drink milk.

She sunk her teeth into a tart, darkly-flavoured fruit, and savoured the taste. 

“ _ So, what are we doing today, Onui’lk? More riding practice? _ ” Hayley mumbled cheerfully around the fruit she was chewing.

Onu shook her head, beads jangling. 

“ _ You are to meet with the new chief. He wishes to see the newest member of the Sea Clan. _ ”

As Onu and Hayley walked through the village, a familiar figure strode up to them through the throngs. It was Maru. He was dressed simply, a loincloth with a dagger at his side.

Maru had visited from time to time as Hayley and Onu trained, over the past few weeks. Mostly though, it seemed as if he always had something on the go. Onu had explained that Maru was second in command of the hunting party. He was close to being a potential candidate for chief; the most recently elected chief, Amung, was fairly young, so it was unlikely to happen for some time, if ever.

“ _ Brother, how was the hunt? _ ” Onu cried out, extending her arms.

The siblings embraced, and Maru’atwe’s eyes locked onto Hayley’s. The corners of his mouth turned up.

“ _ Good to see you, sister _ ,” Maru replied, disengaging from his sister. “ _ And you as well, Hailei. The hunt was fine. We will eat well for some time. We will be giving thanks for the life given in the main square in the afternoon _ .”

“ _ I’d like to go with you, sometime _ .” Hayley offered in response.

Maru seemed slightly taken aback by this. He recovered quickly.

“ _ I’m sure you will, once you get your own ikran, _ ” he replied, albeit somewhat formally. _ “You should see my sister on the hunt. She is quite formidable in battle. I can see in your eyes that you are a warrior too. _ ”

“Brother, we are going to meet Yorotei.” 

Maru nodded. He turned to face Hayley. 

“ _ Do not be afraid, Hailei. He is fierce, and cunning, but he does not dislike Dreamwalkers as Eytukan of the Omaticaya did. _ ”

It was strange, Hayley realized, being referred to as a Dreamwalker. She had spent enough time in the village to still feel like an outsider, yet she felt...like she was becoming one of the people. 

As she and Onu entered the chieftain's tent, the knife of guilty and uncertainty twisted deep within her as she thought of what it would mean if that meant that she would have to abandon her humanity...


	17. Chapter 16: Education

Chapter Sixteen: Education

The Samson skimmed low over the forest. Its blades chopped through the thick air, causing the leaves and vines to sway in its’ wake under the midday sun.

Li Siyu, gripping the handles by the door with his avatar’s slim, elongated azure hands, leaned his head out to savour the breeze rippling through his hair and fatigues. He took a deep breath in, sighed it out. He was glad to be out of the oppressive confines of the base. 

He’d also been glad to catch up with Hayley. That girl had been off doing her own thing for a while, while the rest of them were taking care of business at home. He didn’t begrudge her, really though. It just made him think about what his own next move was.

Would he try to pass through the eye of Eywa himself? Try to integrate within another culture or clan? He had to admit, he didn’t have much else going on at home either here or back on Earth. His relationship with his family was...complicated. Thus the decision to sign up for the military. Li was lucky enough to have a head on his shoulders to go with the sharp shooting, and he’d scored in the draw to come to Pandora. 

He looked longingly out at the mountain banshees circling around in the updrafts. Well, riding  _ those  _ would never happen unless he decided to commit.

Maybe he would bug Hayley a bit more about how things were going. He was trying to give her space, or at least try to stay on top of all his work now that the human population on Pandora had been reduced to a fraction of what it was.

“Prepare yourselves.” Aberdeen, the mission leader, barked out over the wind and the CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP of the propellers. “We’re landing over the next ridge.”

Li checked over his gun again. He wasn’t expecting too much trouble from the locals any more, given recent events. On the other hand, there was still plenty of shit on the planet that could Fuck. You. Up.

The Samson made a delicate landing in an outcropping of rock that jutted out in a clearing away from the rest of the jungle. The pilot killed the engine and the whine ground down into silence. The six of them, four drivers and and two humans, poured out of the vehicle and spread out to secure the area.

Once the all clear was given, Dr. Matthew Lucas stepped out of the helicopter, in avatar form. Consulting his tablet, he pointed to the south-west.

“The signal’s that way. Let’s go.”

Onui’lk and Maraut’we knelt, and Hayley followed suite. The chief was sitting on a chair woven from reeds and bundles of sticks, covered in a traditional tapestry sporting tiny, complex patterns of colour. Yorotei was a younger na’vi, the nephew of the old chief. Hayley still wasn’t entirely clear on how the governing system worked with the Ikran people of the Eastern Sea.  His hair was laced with small white feathers, giving him the semblance of a halo. He wore a white sash and loincloth studded with opal and azure beads, which seemed to Hayley to be the colours of power in the tribe.

“ _ Greetings, Hailei Kin of the Dreamwalker Clan. _ ” Yorotei had the kind of voice that could fill a room. Deep and booming, it resonated despite him speaking relatively softly. 

“ _ Well met, Chief Yorotei. _ ” Hayley responded, feeling her palms sweat and thinking that there was more to it than the heat.

“ _ Oniu’lk is a highly regarded member of our clan. She is a fierce hunter, and her prowess in battle knows no match, _ ” Yorotei began. Onu bowed her head, and Hayley could tell she was taken aback by this praise. 

“ _ More importantly, Onui’lk is compassionate. It was that quality that inspired her to take you on as a pupil, to teach you our ways. _ ”

Yorotei shifted his weight then, leaning forward, hands on the armrests of the grand chair.

“ _ While I admire the trait of compassion, it is my responsibility as chief to ensure that you have the best interests of the clan in mind. Therefore I must ask you, Hailei - if you intend to be become one of us - where do your loyalties truly lie? _ ”

Hayley felt the guilt pang sharpen into a knife twisting in her guts.

It was the question she had been asking herself ever since she had realized what they had done, back when they had battled and banished the humans back to earth. The question she had been asking herself constantly ever since she had intercepted the transmission from Boers. 

But it was the first time she would have to answer it.

Hayley opened her mouth, steadied herself, and took in a deep breath.

“ _ If Onui’lk believes foremost in compassion, then it is I who believes foremost in truth _ .” She placed her hand on her chest, feeling it swell, and the tears began to flow without her notice as she spoke. 

“ _ Chief, I do not believe that it is right to disrupt the balance you have in this beautiful place in order to restore it to the planet I once called home. I see you, and I see what this world is, and I could only dream to be a part of it. _

“ _ But Chief Yorotei, I am torn in two. My people are dying. I feel that becoming one of the People is to abandon those who are in need _ .”

Hayley sunk to her knees, tear-streaked eyes locked onto Yorotei’s. The chief sat silently, his gaze never moving from hers. 

“ _ I come to you to seek guidance. Please...If you were me _ ,” she said, and she found herself addressing all who were present in the room,” _ what would you do? Would you turn your back on the innocent who are sentenced to die because of the mistakes of their ancestors? Would you condemn an entire race for the mistakes of their leaders? _ ”

The room was silent for some time. Hayley looked to Maru and Onu. Onui’lk’s face was streaked with tears as well. Maru looked to her with a expression on his face that was part pain, part uncertainty, and part....something else that she wasn’t sure of.

Yorotei suddenly rose to his feet. He walked over to Hayley with slow, deliberate steps. When he reached her, he slowly lowered himself onto his knees, directly in front of her. Hayley was aware of one or two gasps around her from others in the pavilion watching.

“ _ See me, Hailei. _ ”

Hayley looked into the male’s eyes. They were a deep gold, the black iris radiating outward. They were set in a lined face that spoke of someone who was carrying a burden almost too big for their years. Then they looked downward, Hayley following them with her own.

In his hand was his queue.

“ _ Let me see it for myself. _ ” he said, quietly and intensely.

Hayley had never coupled with another person before. It would be her first time. 

Reaching behind her head, she took her queue and slid the braid around until it was in her own trembling palm before her.

Yorotei took her queue delicately with his free hand. He brought them together. Hayley watched as the pink, feathered tendrils sprang out, twisting and writhing as they searched out for the other mind that they sensed through the static electrical signal emitted in the air.

They watched them twist together, and she felt the familiar burst of static in her mind from when she had connected with the plants out in the compound. But then - 

The best way she could describe it is was like an old Earth radio. Before, in the jungle with the others, she had been able to access the minds of the others around that tree, to an extent - but it was if she had not quite tuned into the station. The tsahelyu made directly with another Na’vi felt like she had finally tuned in, past the static, and the sound exploded in a chorus of beautiful music...or maybe it was like being colour blind and finally seeing colour, or - 

Then they were one.

They understood why the bond was not done often with a stranger. 

She realized that the humans had been wrong about the tsaheylu.

“Where are we, exactly?” Norm asked Jake. 

They had been riding by pa’li for one or two hours. It was difficult to tell, and not just because Norm didn’t have a communicator or watch on him any more. Not only was the night and day cycle longer on Pandora, but between his human and na’vi DNA, it was difficult to establish a proper circadian rhythm and sense of time. 

“I’m still learning the terrain myself,” replied Jake. “I’m trying to get to know it better. I’ve got a lot to learn, still,” he admitted.

Norm nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“I know things have been crazy lately,” Jake said. “And I’ve said it before, but I think they’ll get better. They already are.”

Norm nodded again. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. The air didn’t sting your lungs here, not like back...he was thinking  _ back home _ , but that made less and less sense as the days passed.

“Why did you decide to stay?” asked Jake. “I’m just curious.”

Norm shrugged.

“Why did any of us stay? It was better than going home.”

Jake thought about it.

“Guess you’re right.”

Norm’s pa’li stumbled, letting out an alien whinny. Norm detached from the bond, swung his legs over the direhorse, and landed on the ground with both feet.

“Just a sec, Jake. That felt weird.”

Norm crouched down onto the forest floor, tail flicking behind him. Brow furrowed, he smoothed away the leaves and other debris on the forest floor. Picking the object up, he turned it over in his hands.

He looked up at Jake.

“I know where we are,” was all that Norm said.

Norm slowly stood up. The object dropped to the ground, and opened up. Jake could see from his position that it was a waterlogged and torn book, but a book nonetheless. Jake could just make out the faint outline of a child’s drawing.

“Norm, wait up!” Jake delinked from his pa’li, and began to dismount as Norm began to run into the forest.

Jake ran after him. 

“Norm, what the hell is going on - “

He brushed away some branches and saw it. He stopped in his tracks. 

In front of him, light by several shafts of light that had pierced through the canopy, was a roughly-hewn building covered in vines, with the roof caved in. He could make out steps leading up to a door which was half off its hinges.

“Oh shit.”

Jake approached the schoolhouse. He walked up the steps, fingers tracing over the bullet holes in the railing. He stepped over the scorch marks on the porch, then gently swing open the front door.

Norm was standing in the middle of the room. His back was turned to Jake.

Desks, chairs, papers and books were strewn everywhere. There was an Earth globe in one corner, and a globe of Pandora not too far away from it. Jake could make out some rust-stained marks in the frayed carpet below. Light shone through the streaks of bullet holes in the walls and down through the portion of the collapsed roof. Vines and grasses were growing through the top, and around the fringes of the windows.

Norm turned around, looking at Jake squarely in his eyes.

“We did this, Jake.”

“NO,” Jake couldn’t help it, but his words came out as a snarl. “We’re NOT like them...what don’t you understand about that!? WE saved THEM!”

Norm turned around again, his hands curling into fists.

“God damn, fucking savages...”

Jake shook his head.  “Not us, Norm.”

Norm breathed shallowly. Jake stood behind him, silent. Then, Norm turned back to him. 

“It’s over, right Jake?”

Jake nodded slowly.

Norm smiled.

“I hope so. I’m done.”

“What do you mean?”

Norm placed a hand on one of the overturned desks.

“I came here because I didn’t have anybody,” Norm said. “I’m sure that’s everyone’s reason. I wanted to be a bigger part of something. And I felt that at first, when I landed here. I felt it when Trudy smiled at me most of all.”

Norm looked out at the sunlight coming in through the roof.

“I always gave you a hard time. Called you a  _ skxawng _ . It sucked, though - seeing you fit in so quickly after I had been here already for five years. You even got the princess! I thought I was finally finding a place where I belonged, but I could see that I never really would, not the same way as you.

But you know what, Jake? The other day, I linked into the Hometree. I felt so lost, and I figured if anybody was gonna talk to me, Eywa would be able to. And guess who I heard?” Norm looked up at Jake again.

“Who did you hear, Norm?” Jake asked.

Norm smiled, eyes shining. “I heard  _ Trudy _ . She was there...she was  _ home.  _ She said she was with Grace, and she told me that I needed to be strong. That it wasn’t my time yet to join her.”

Jake nodded. He walked forward, and placed a hand on Norms shoulder. He brought his head in, almost touching Norm’s.

“Trudy is right, brother. And you have a place here. You always will.”

Norm nodded.

“I’m going to be strong for her. Even though things are new and different, I think I have a shot at making a decent life for myself here.”

Jake smiled.

“You do, Norm. Don’t let the past haunt you anymore. You have a new path ahead of you now. Take it one step at a time.”

Norm looked at the remains of the schoolhouse around him.

“Let’s get out of here. I want to get back home.”

 


	18. Chapter 17: Union

Chapter Seventeen: Union

Maru watched as his new chief and the female bonded. Their eyes closed in unison, bodies stiffening, as they entered into Hailei’s memories. 

The hunter wondered what they saw together. He had heard very little about the people from Ear’t’he. They said their whole planet looked like the structure that they had made upon coming here. That there were no trees left. 

That didn’t make any sense to Maru. How could the humans have killed their mother without destroying themselves? He knew they had more advanced technologies than the na’vi, but to Maru - and that majority of people he had talked to about the matter - it seemed that the technology they used was a ghost, a replica, of what Eywa could provide to them.

Perhaps the humans were motivated by their inability to make tsaheylu. Unable to connect with others and the world, they tried to find other ways of making that bond...artificially. Maru had many questions about this. While of course he had his friends, and they did not make the Bond, yet were able to bond nonetheless...it was different with a lover, or so he had heard. 

Maru had not yet tsaheylu with anyone other than his steeds, but it made his chest hurt to think that the humans would never be able to do such a thing with their mates. 

The silence in the room was thick. It hung heavy. Hailei and Chief Yorotei sat, cross-legged, staring into each other's eyes. Occasionally the both of them would say a word, as if placing emphasis upon a particular answer.

“ _ Yes, that’s right.. _ .”

“ _ But why... _ ”

Then - Maru watched as tears began to run silently down Yorotei’s face.

Hailei brought her hands up gently. She wrapped her fingers around the tsaheylu, and slowly brought them apart. Tendrils retreated into the black tuft of hair at the end of their braids.

Yorotei was the first to stand up. Maru tried to make eye contact with Hailei, but she was stumbling to her feet, a mixture of emotions present on her face that Maru didn’t dream to attempt to untangle at the moment.

Outside, the wood fires burned, incense and sweet grass wafting through the chieftain’s tent as the breeze began to pick up.

“ _ I have seen the world of the Dreamwalkers, _ ” Yorotei began, tears beginning to dry on his face. 

“ _ Their world is dead _ .”

There was a barely audible intake of air. Maru felt his own catch in his chest.

“ _ All that is left are the humans _ ,” Yorotei cried out, raising his hands, palms facing the ceiling. He paced and whirled about, punctuating his words with wide gestures.

“ _ I have seen this one’s mind. I have seen the depth of her sadness, as she mourns her dead world. She loves the People, and she loves hers as well _ .”

Yorotei stopped. Maru watched as the male’s eyes locked onto Hailei’s.

“ _ You are worthy to become one of our people, Hailei Kin’. You have love for all beings. There is nothing that you should be made to feel ashamed about this. Our clan has much to learn from you. _ ”

Hailei smiled through her own, new budding tears.

Yorotei gestured for his staff. Finding his second in command, he took the staff from her in his left hand. He slammed it to the ground, once, twice, three, four times.

“ _ Rise, Hailei. You are one of the people. Take your ikran. _ ”

Onui’lk was the first to make a sound. She yelped, then cried out into a ululation followed by the rest of the inhabitants of the tent. 

Hailei looked around at all the people in the tent. She looked at Maru, finally. She smiled wider than he had ever seen her smile. He smiled back, then raised his fist into the air and whooped.

Hayley stood at the side of the ocean, atop a bare cliff face, in the burning midday sun. She tried not to think too much about the plunge below, into the churning ocean. Around her, the massive flock of ikran that lived on the shore whirled and keeled around her, enormous wings buffeting the wind, causing Hayley’s newly beaded and feathered hair to fly around her face. She looked down at her arms, in awe of the red and white streaks zig-zagging across them.

She wanted to weep some more, in the joy of becoming one of the Eastern Sea People. But the task was not yet finished. 

How would she know which ikran was meant for her? The bond, she supposed, But how to pick out the one meant for her in this kaleidoscope of wings and tails and teeth?

Hayley turned to Maru.

“ _ How did you do it? _ ”

“ _ Do not worry. You will recognize each other if it meant to be. _ ” replied Maru.

“ _ The Omaticaya trap their mounts _ ,” Hayley replied. “ _ Will it really come to me? _ ”

“ _ The Omaticaya do not live in harmony with their ikran. The ikran are wild and remote. Here, they know us well. They know what both of us bring to the bond. _ ” Onu replied. She put a hand on Hayley’s shoulder. “ _ Clear your mind. We are here for you _ .”

Hayley took a deep breath. She smelled the sea, the earth. She opened her eyes and took in the rolling, frothy waves below her, just steps beyond where she stood. 

A few of the ikran soared closer to the small party of na’vi which were grouped at the edge of the cliff. Hayley tried to look into their eyes, wondering if she would feel anything different when her ikran found her.

An ikran reared up in front of her at last. He was green, with ribbons of pink and brown shot through his skin. His wings thumped heavily as he sized her up. He was so close she could see his breathing gills opening and shutting with every snorting breath he took.

It was a magnificent sight.

The ikran left out a keening, reptilian cry, and Hayley and the rest of the onlookers took a step back as he alighted on the edge of the cliff. Using the clawed appendage on his wings, the ikran lithely crawled closer to her. Hayley felt a stab of fear, her heart beginning to race. His teeth were razor sharp - he could crush her skull in a moment if he wanted to. For now, however, he seemed curious, just like here.

_ Well...here goes. _

Hayley raised a hand, ignoring the tremor of fear that ran electrically through her body.

He seemed to hesitate, his instincts kicking in. He shook his head, shuffled about on his claws, snuffling and snorting.

“ _ There there...good to meet you _ ,” Hayley said, trying to sound calm, soothing. She wasn’t sure if he would understand her words, but perhaps the tone in them would come through.

He seemed to gather himself, then stepped forward again. Bowing his head, the ikran moved forward into Hayley’s outstretched hand.

He felt leathery, smooth and warm. Hayley moved her hand down the bridge of the ikran’s muzzle.

“ _ Make the tsaheylu, Hailei. _ ” Onui’lk said, from just behind her.

Gradually and gently, Hayley moved to the side of the ikran’s face. Reaching up, she slid her hand up to the antennae-like neural whip that extended out. Bending it down, she reached behind her back to grab her neural whip.

Having just bonded with another na’vi, Hayley couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to connect with an animal.

“ _ Wait! _ ” Onu said, rushing to her side. The ikran balked a little bit at this.

“ _ What’s wrong, Onu? _ ”

“ _ Make sure you are on his back before you make the bond. He may begin to fly. You must prepare yourself. _ ”

Hayley nodded. She reached over, grabbing the second queue on the ikran. She leaped, swinging her right foot over the side of the creature. Again, the ikan balked, and Hayley gripped both queues tightly as her ikran acclimatized to the new burden on his back.

“ _ NOW, Hailei! _ ” Onu cried from somewhere below her on the rocks.

Hayley slid her hand down the left queue as he bucked under her. Shuffling forward, she locked her ankles under his neck, and grabbed her own queue. Bringing them together, she watched as the tendrils-embraced - 

  * who are you - 



They fell from the cliff.

  * open wings - 



They flapped.

  * we must work together - 



Haphazardly, they climbed into the sky.

  * we are two, but can work as one - 



Hayley recognized her distinct persona again. In the same beat, she recognized that there was another being underneath her. The being had no name, not yet.

  * what’s a name? - 
  * it is what recognizes you from others. - 
  * name me? - 



The two of them weaved, in and out, of the ikran’s pack. Hayley’s vision was a fluttering of multicoloured wings. There was something else, too. Hayley could sense the heat of the ikran clan, a new sense coming in through her mount’s brain.

  * what sort of name would please you? -
  * a name that shows others how swift and fierce I am - 
  * Dagger. It is a weapon that moves quickly. - 
  * yes. - 



The scientist in Hayley awoke. She was surprised at how intelligent and quick-witted Dagger was. Consciousness and intelligence were studied in animals back on Earth, but even at the present day, little was known about how similar animals were to humans. It was hypothesized that dolphins and elephants were highly intelligent based on their behaviour. They had been long extinct when Hayley had been born. There were proposals put forward to clone the animals to study them, but the funding had never gone through, so said her supervisor in college. All the funding, he said while shaking his head, was going into xenobiology, geology and fuel production these days. 

She was vaguely aware of Dagger’s bemusement at the images running through his rider’s head.

Hayley realized she was flying. She and Dagger had broken out through the throng and into a clearing in the bay. The water was so far away, Hayley could only make out some small ruffles that extended into the horizon, and the white of the sea foam as it rushed up against the cliff face. The sun felt good on her skin, as the wind rushed around them.

How were they supposed to work together to steer?

  * don’t tell, think. - said Dagger.



So she did.

They turned around, drew their wings in close, and hurtled back towards the ground. Just as they drew close to the water’s surface, Hayley and Dagger opened up their wings and swung up, skimming the ocean. 

Hayley laughed, raising an arm triumphantly. As they flew back to the rock face, she could see that the others on the cliff face were smiling and laughing too.


	19. Chapter 18: Ambitions

Chapter Eighteen: Ambitions

Li plunged deeper into the forest, gun cocked, sweeping it back and forth as his sensitive eyes tuned in to every moving branch, every quiet cry. In front of him, Lucas held the scanner. He had been sweeping it as well before, but he seemed to have it focused in on a target now.

“Almost there..” Li muttered. Lucas hadn’t noticed he was speaking aloud.

The marine beside him stumbled. Li glanced over his shoulder as the fatigue-clad human caught himself, then kept on jogging through the forest.

Li looked down at his feet to see what the man had tripped on.

Bones. Everywhere, littering the forest floor.

_Strange,_ Li thought to himself. _Why don’t I smell anything rotting?_ _Has it been that long since the battle for the Tree of Souls?_

They soon reached a clearing in the forest. Sunlight beat down on weeks-old growth, sprouting up between the mangled remains of a massive downed shuttlecraft. Li could spot a skull here, a femur there, scattered around the clearing, bleached white in the sunlight, beginning to be swallowed up by the foliage. 

Lucas put his fist up, and the squadron halted.

“Spread out. Secure the area,” he said in his characteristic soft voice.

He turned around Li saw Lucas’ eyes lock onto his.

“You there,” he motioned. “Private. You come with me.”

“Yes sir,” Li quipped, gripping his rifle and stepping forward as the others spread around the perimeter of the clearing. 

Li thought he could make out the hint of a smile on the older man’s face.

“You look familiar, son. You were on the the  _ Star  _ when it arrived the time before last, weren’t you. King’s crew?”

“Yes, sir.” Li replied, keeping his face expressionless.

“Good. So you were working with Augustine in the outdoor compound. I want to show you something.”

Lucas stepped forward into the clearing, picking his way among the various kinds of debris. Li could feel the hard carcasses crunching under his boots - there was no way to avoid them.

Lucas and Li made their way around the massive ship. Li could see from their new vantage point that the ship had broken into three major parts, and Lucas was heading for what was roughly the middle of them. 

“Look closer, marine. What do you see?”

Li tried.

“I see the vegetation growing into the ship, sir.”

“Closer...yes, let’s get closer,” Lucas scratched an absent beard on an azure chin. “Something unprecedented is happening here.”

Li watched the senior scientist’s expression. It went beyond determination. There was hunger there...hunger, and brimming excitement. Li took several more carefully-placed steps towards the wreckage of the shuttle. He followed the tendrils as they wrapped and writhed around the exterior of the shuttle, then piercing inwards. 

It was then that he finally noticed it. 

There was a light flickering on and off, red and blue, in rapid succession. 

“Sir, it appears that part of the ship is still functional.”

Reaching into the pocket of his lab coat, Lucas grabbed his phone. Switching on the flashlight, he shone it into the shadowed cavity of the once airborne vessel.

“Look,” Lucas urged Li.

Li looked. The vines were woven all around the small, blinking console. And, right in the centre, he could see feathery, pink tendrils.

“What is that?” Li breathed.

“That,” said Lucas, “Is a subspace transmission console.”

“ _ I need to talk with you, my son. _ ”

Mo’at had approached Norm and Jake when they arrived back at the new hometree.

“ _ What is it, my mother? _ ” Jake said, swinging deftly from his pa’li, who happily trotted over to the nearest flower to savour its nectar. Norm and his own mount shortly followed suit.

The wizened spiritual leader, the mother of Jake’s mate, shook her head, waving an arm.

“ _Not here._ ”  
Jake looked over his shoulder at Norm.

“I gotta go.” 

Norm nodded.

“I’m around.”

They sat together in the heart of the hollowed tree - what would soon be the meeting place for all the Omaticaya. Mo’at had found them a spot that was away from the usual foot traffic, away in a corner. The floor was still rough in places, but the craftsmen who were set to work on this tree had had the foresight to carve out a small bench running along the perimeter of the space. Jake and Mo’at sat, side by side, watching children running and craftsmen labouring from afar.

“ _ You have been busy these past moons, my son Jakesully _ .”

Jake nodded. 

“ _ It’s a big job, being chief, _ ” he replied, in a barely broken omaticaya tongue.

Mo’at laughed at this, head thrown back, chest shaking under her beaded dress.

“ _ I am aware. My late mate was often preoccupied with the affairs of the tribe - a little too preoccupied. _ ”

Jake pushed his lips. The memory of Eytukan was still fresh in many of their minds. 

“ _ Your mate was a great man. I wish I could’ve known him longer _ ,” Jake said, clasping his hands together.

Mo’at grew suddenly still. She leaned in.

“ _ I did not bring you here to talk about Eytukan, Jakesully. I have been spending time, speaking with Eywa, now that she has manifested herself in this new place. _ ”

Mo’at grew uncomfortable. Jake wasn’t sure he had ever seen her so shaken before.

“ _ Jake...there are many new and strange voices that are a part of her _ .”

“ _ W..what do you mean? _ ” Jake said, swiveling his ears in confusion.

“ _ You must come with me to the Vitraya Ramunong. Neytiri as well. But I need you, because I hear the voices, and I recognize the tongue in which they speak. It is yours. _ ”

_ “You mean English? _ ”

Mo’at nodded.

“ _ Many voices. I do not know what it means, or why it is happening. You must fly with me tomorrow, and listen. _ ”

Jake nodded, determined.

“ _ Of course, mother. _ ”

_ What the hell was going on? _

Hayley and Dagger had finally said their goodbyes, while Dagger flew off to hunt for his dinner, and presumably roost with the rest of his kin. She walked proudly into the village where her new people lived.

She was able to catch up with Onu at dinner time. The stars were out, bonfires roaring high, casting a flickering red-orange glow over the village. Her friend was tending a smaller cooking fire, with a pot of stew bubbling overhead.

“ _ Hailei. _ ” Onui’lk smiled. “ _ Had enough of flying? _ ”

“ _ Never _ ,” Hayley laughed. She was still giddy.

Onu scooped a pile of stew into a bowl for Hayley, who dug in gratefully.

“ _ So what happens next? _ ”

Hayley stared into her stew. 

“ _ I’m going to fly to the Tree of Souls tomorrow. I know that Eywa told me to try and save Earth with the plants, but I don’t think she knew all that was happening. I think she did the best she could, with what Grace had told her. Grace always thought you could do anything with the right plant _ .”

“ _ Do you really think Grace would be wrong? _ ”

Hayley looked up, ignoring her meal for a moment.

“ _ The funny thing is, Onu, is that I wonder about that. I wonder if Grace...look, I know this sounds crazy, but - I wonder if Grace had another plan all along. _ ”

Onui’lk came closer, adjusting herself so that she was seated directly in front of Hayley.

“ _ What do you mean? _ ”

Hayley lowered her voice, suddenly aware of all the na’vi around them and what they might be hearing.

“ _ Earth has known about some of the plants on Pandora for some time now. Yes, of course they didn’t know about all of them, and maybe it was true that Grace learned something about some new species that may allow people on earth to generate, I don’t know how to say it...a fuel? Or more clean  air? But at the same time, she was giving everyone something to do, something to keep busy with. I just wonder if Eywa knows something we don’t _ ”.

“What do you really think that Eywa intends to do?”

Hayley shrugged. “ _ It could be many things. She could believe that the humans should die. Perhaps she wants to spread herself to another world. Or perhaps she truly does want to save us, and has a greater strategy. Or maybe I’m just crazy. _ ”

She set her bowl aside, and leaned in even closer. “ _ All I know is that tomorrow morning, I’m going to the Tree and getting to the bottom of this. Eywa and Grace took my body over. I think it’s high time I spoke with them and understood why. _ ”

Onu said nothing in response, eyes worried and fatigued. The bonfires crackled around them, mingling with the voices of the people of the clan. Then - 

“ _ My brother wishes to court you as his mate. _ ”

Hayley blinked a few times.  
“ _How long?_ ”

_ “He has been...interested in you for some time. But he has also been nervous. He knows you are from another world. He is not sure what to expect. He is uncertain what you think of him, as well. _ ” Onui’lk replied. She took Hayley’s hand in one of hers.

_“It is up to you what you decide,_ ” she continued, “ _But my brother is a good man. He is loving, and loyal, and will support you in whatever you desire. But know this, Hailei: whatever you decide, I wish for you to decide with a clear mind and heart._ ”

Hayley was feeling lightheaded, all of a sudden. Her dinner lay at her side, forgotten, getting cold. 

“ _ Hailei, I know you have a good heart,”  _ Onu went on. _ “And I know that it can be torn in two, even still. _ ” Onui’lk replied heavily. “ _ I know that you are also interested in another. Though you have found a way to be true to the People and to your own kind, it is not the same here with a mate. You must choose. _ ” 

So Onu had seen the way she had acted around Norm. Fuck, even around Li on occasion. Hayley had been so captivated with all the events that had been taking place, she had been pushing one of the more important questions to the side. Now that she was one of the people, what would she do next? Would she take a mate, have a child? Or would she pursue some other, unknown path?

There was a part of these questions that lay even deeper, that Hayley had been grappling with, much like the way she had grappled with her conflicting loyalties to the humans and na’vi. 

She looked at Onu again. Looked at the smooth contours of her face, the way her braided hair was wrapped around itself, cascading down her blue-striped back, speckled with those soft, downy white feathers. Saw her breasts rising and falling, just like she had seen them the morning after the party. She felt the heat in the hand that held hers. Thought of the way her hands had moved on her body to correct her as she practiced throwing the spear.

Was such a thing allowed here? If it was, would Onui’lk be a willing part of it?

Hayley swallowed hard.

“ _ Onu. _ ”

“ _ Yes? _ ”

“ _ Do you... _ ”

No. She couldn’t do it. Not yet. She didn’t even know what she would be doing. 

“ _ Do you want to come with me to the Tree of Souls tomorrow? _ ”

Onu nodded.

“ _ Of course Hailei. _ ”

“ _ And Onu? _ ”

“ _ Yes? _ ”

Hayley placed her other hand overtop her friend’s, squeezing gently. They locked eyes.

“ _ I promise you, I will clear my heart and mind when the time to choose comes. _ ”


	20. Chapter 19: Echoes

Chapter 19: Echoes

Commander Boers sat in the break room along with a number of members of his team. Everyone was was riveted on the screen in front of them.

“Did you know about this, Conrad?” asked Sula, without breaking her stare at the television broadcast. Sula was an engineer. Along with being assigned to the military/scientific base, Sula had been on the main earthside team for the Pandora project.  _ Had been,  _ because Boers was certain the project was now dead and gone.

Boers glanced at Sula. Her brown eyes were wide, set in a dark brown, middle-aged face streaked with small beads of sweat. Her hair was plastered to her face.The air conditioner had been running hard, as the climate outside had clicked up a couple of degrees over the past couple of months.

The broadcast chattered on, immune to the emotions of shock and disbelief rippling through the skeleton crew who had been trapped for...Boers used to be keeping better count, but he would say it had been at least 56 days or so.

“...strange subspace transmissions from the planet Pandora’s surface...”

“...to some, this has inspired hope, that one day humans will return to the planet...”

“...solve the energy crisis...”

“Lucas had been sending me some sheets,” said Boers. “I was working on them by myself for the most part, but I had Fern looking at them as well more recently.”

Fern, a 20-something, more geeky-looking type with a tight-ringed mess of hair, nodded. She was the kind of person whose appearance fit her job title well. Computer scientist, AKA code monkey.

“The problem,” she said, adjusting her glasses, “Was separating the signal from noise. It got better on the more recent transmissions, but we never could really make sense of it.”

Jim, another code monkey, grizzled and pale from too many days underground, making up in flair for what he lacked in tact, gestured meaningfully at the screen.

“Some teenage prodigy in Indiana just made sense of it according to these reporters. So now what the fuck do we do, ladies and gentlemen?”

“Cat’s out of the bag now,” Boer agreed, surrendering to the blunt logic of his crew.

“So,” Sula said, the word tumbling out alongside a sigh. “What do we do? What does this mean for us? What...what  _ can _ we do?”

“I’d say we should try honing in on the signal again and try to send back a transmission,” Fern piped up. “I know a guy on 4th, he has a pretty good grasp of Pandoran languages. He was supposed to be on the next cycle.”

“Okay,” Boers said, rubbing his face. Sleep was a long-forgotten prospect, especially so when supplies were dwindling and options narrowing. “So we send a transmission. Then what happens?”

“We wait to see what we get back.” Fern replied. She turned from the screen in her swivelling chair to look at the motley crew that was assembled in the break room.

“Commander Boers and I had a working theory,” Fern said, the heel of her foot absentmindedly bobbing with her sudden surge of nervousness. “Like we said before, there was an awful lot of noise in the signal, but we thought that we were seeing an unconventional pattern of machine learning.”

“It was learning from you as much as you were learning from it.” Sula chimed in.

“That’s one way to put it,” Fern quickly replied. 

Boer’s E-watch buzzed against his wrist three times. He took a look.

 

LUCAS, M

call me

 

“Speak of the devil,” Boers said, rising to his feet. As he walked out the door, he said over his shoulder on the way out:

“Get some rest. Next meeting at 1300 hours.”

A lone ikran flew high above the misty forest. His wings pumped deliberately, majestically.

Goggles in place to protect her eyes, Hayley scanned the landscape below.

_ There it was. _

The Tree of Souls was quite a sight to see. The thick protrusions of rock extended, domelike, broken and worn down in places. As they descended, Hayley saw the outline of blue-white tendrils, some glowing in the shadows which lay within the valley.

Dagger thumped his wings as he lowered the two of them gently to the ground. Hayley dismounted. She was shaky, still flooded with adrenaline. It would take her a little while to get used to the idea of flying on an animal. The air around her seemed too still, now that her feet were on solid earth. It smelled tangy and rich There was the odd animal noise, but it was as if the tree had told the world to hush.

Hayley felt suddenly anxious. Was she worthy enough for Eywa? Should she have gone to meet the goddess in her most sacred place? An even more frightening thought bubbled up into her consciousness. What if Eywa took her, absorbed her mind into the collective?

She shook her head. Fussing over nothing. Well, maybe not nothing. But there was nothing else to be done.

Hayley walked to the base of the tree. She stepped over the latticework of roots, large and small, with her bare feet. Even in the daylight, the tree was beautiful. It’s paper-white tendrils brushed the ground in places. They looked like soft, long feathers. Hayley reached up to touch them as she went by. It made her smile. She felt childlike.

She found a spot that looked right, and sat, nestling herself among the burgeoning roots. She took a deep breath of humid air, and let it out. Queue in hand, she looked at it for what felt like a long time. The tendrils waved expectantly, knowing what she was about to do.

Hayley ground her fingers into the soft loam, wrapping her hand around a shallow root. Dirt crumbled away on either side as she extended her neural whip down. The root’s own miniscule tendrils waved and bent, anticipating. Then - contact.

It wasn’t at all as jarring as she was expecting. The bond felt like a spring of cold water, seeping into the tired spaces of her mind, reassuring her. 

_ Eywa. _

Hayley heard voices singing in unison.

The link felt like she was swimming now, falling deeper into a pool of water. And all around her, it was  _ her. _ Like the mother Earth they called theirs long, long ago. 

Hayley felt Eywa sizing her up, understanding what she needed. In the same heartbeat, she heard the answer.

_ Grace. _

_ “We meet again, Hayley.” _

_ “Did we meet the first time?” _

_ “Hah! I suppose not. So, what brings you here this time?” _

_ “Hmmm...this isn’t really going the way I thought it would.” _

Amazing. Hayley could almost feel Grace crossing her arms, even though she didn’t exist.

_ “And what did you expect?” _

_ “I suppose something a little more...solemn?” _

_ “Ah, I see. Eywa’s not an old man with a beard who lives in the sky. She is all of us - happy, sad, solemn, joyous - you, and me.” _

_ “Fair. So I guess I should just get to it then, doctor? _

_ “Sure thing. What’s up, Private King?” _

Private. That was right. She was military. Why did it feel like so long ago?

_ “Well, it’s - it’s a very long story.” _

_ “I have all the time in the world,”  _ came Grace’s response.

_ “I heard that when you took over my body,”  _ Hayley began,  _ “you told the others that the solution to solving Earth’s energy crisis was to use the plants from Pandora. But I can’t help but think that that can’t be the right thing to do. I mean, what would happen next? Would we create a new biosphere on Earth? But then the humans would not be able to exist.” _

Grace seemed to pause at this information, considering it.

_ “Hmm...when I was here, one of my projects was to try to use the biodiversity from Pandora, but engineer it in such a way that humans would be able to use the plants. For example, take a tree, and alter it so that it would exist in Earth’s atmosphere. Look for the hardiest plants that can generate oxygen, and so on. But you’re right. There is another reason. You are absolutely right in assuming that it is too late to save everyone on Earth by slowly introducing biodiversity, or hell, even using the plants to generate energy. Another project of mine. You don’t remember, Hayley the xenobiologist? Tsk tsk.” _

_ “I was only working on a small part of your project, to be fair. I was assigned to the neuroscience department - looking at how the minds of plants work. Sorry, Grace. But..why did you send everybody collecting plants? Jake Sully is working with the people back at the base to accelerate your energy and biodiversity projects. I do remember.” _

_ “Yes, I suppose we can’t keep bantering about the issue. The thing is Hayley, like I said before, it is too late. And there’s nothing much that either of us can really do about that. And I think you know that.” _

_ “Yes, I know.” _

_ “I feel your sorrow. She feels it too, Hayley. I’ll tell you why I told Jake to go rustle up plants. I want to give them something to do, to feel useful. And I mean, the information and research will be useful in it’s own way. Eywa wants the humans and na’vi to coexist - what better way than making them work together? _

_ “But in the meanwhile,”  _ Grace continued,  _ “it’s Eywa that is working on a solution that neither of us could have accomplished.” _

What?

_ “What is Eywa doing? What can she do?” _

_ “I don’t mean to brag, but Eywa’s never seen anyone quite like me before. Why do you think she refused to allow me to pass through her eye?” _

_ “They said you were very weak.” _

_ “I was. But that’s not why I wasn’t able to make the transfer. Eywa had another purpose for me. My mind is a part of hers now. She needs me to understand how to handle the humans and the problems that they face, as well as the problems that they present to her.” _

It made sense. Eywa knew the humans were a threat. They were destroying her. 

_ “Together, we have been performing some...experiments. The humans left a lot of equipment behind when they Eywa has been integrating the human technology into her neural network. She is even starting to learn how to adapt the plant and animal species themselves to integrate this technology.” _

Holy.

Shit.

_ “Mhm,”  _ Grace projected amusedly.

_ “This...this is absolutely huge.”  _ Hayley’s mind was reeling.  _ “Nothing like this has ever happened in human history, or na’vi history too, I suppose. Why is she doing this? To better herself? Is she trying to prepare herself for another attack?” _

_ “Yes to both of those things, but there is another reason...Eywa is trying to open herself up to receive the souls of Earth refugees.” _

Hayley didn’t understand. Souls? What refugees?

_ “Come on Hayley, you’re a smart cookie. What can humans do that allows them to become avatars. How can humans communicate between Earth and Pandora?” _

That was it. 

Subspace communication. 

Humans could transfer their consciousness into a wavelength.

And if there was a receiver here, on the other end....

  
  
  



	21. Chapter 20: Culmination

Chapter Twenty: Culmination

A light, misting rain pattered down to coat the nearby leaves and grasses. He would have preferred if it had been sunny on his walk this morning, but it could have been worse. The dirt still held firm under his combat boots.

There was something to be said for getting caught in the rain, knowing you could go back home to a nice, dry body.

Dr. Mattew Lucas stopped in front of the teaching tree. It was the largest tree left un-bulldozed in the avatar compound. The avatar drivers used it to learn more about the bioneuroanatomy of the planet.

He detested linking with Eywa. It was an overwhelming, de-individualizing experience. It made him, a man used to feeling superior, vastly inferior. How could he compete with billions and billions of souls? He was only one man.

But they had no choice now. And the only person he could trust with this task was himself. Lucas looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was there. There would be nothing unusual with him coming here - perhaps he was doing a bit of routine fieldwork, which was somewhat accurate. The act he was about to form just seemed...intimate somehow.

Lucas sat down cross-legged, facing towards the tree. He felt for his neural whip. Reaching forward, he gingerly brushed away some of the dirt and leaves from an exposed net of roots.

Even if it wasn’t his favourite thing to do, Lucas was a seasoned linker. It was a mandatory requirement for the field. He dropped into the connection seamlessly.

He was instantly taken aback by how different the chatter was this time. Languages had never been his specialty. When you were in the link, the voices were there, but there was also an implicit understanding of the meaning behind them. So although the na’vi consciousnesses would “speak”, in a sense, in na’vi, Lucas could understand what they had to say, despite having a rudimentary understanding of the language as best. Incidentally, linking was one of the best ways to learn Na’vi languages. 

Translation is not a perfect science. It is often indirect. Even between Earth languages with a similar history and development, there are certain differences in the way things were conceptualized. There is no English equivalent to the word  _ Shaedenfreude _ . French curse words are often comprised of references to the Christian faith. Culture builds language, and language shapes thought. 

There had been some sort of massive shift in the Pandorian collective. There were many new voices, talking in new ways. Familiar ways, to Lucas. Recent events might have accounted for the influx of new minds, but not for the novelty. There was military jargon and imagery, and Grace’s scientific method, and - knowledge. Knowledge of Earth.

Boers had warned him it would be like this. Lucas had seen it now, with his own eyes, out there in the forest. He had been close to ordering Li to shoot the shit out of that ship, but he knew better.

More accurately, he had been afraid. Afraid of  _ her _ . He had watched the banshees screaming down out of the sky on the videofeed.

_ Hello _ , he projected tentatively. He was ready to bail at the first sign of hostility. Strangely, there was none. Were they picking up on his intentions? And if that were so, what did they think of them?

_ Hello _ , the voices breathed back at him.

_ You are learning about us. You are talking to us. _

_ Yes, yes. _

_ You have heard Earth’s messages? _

_ Boers. Yes. The speaking computer. _

_ Do you plan to help us? With the consciousness transfer? _

_ All life is sacred. _

_ Speaking in riddles _ , Lucas thought. He would have to speak in riddles back, he supposed. 

_ Does any part of you resist? _

_ Yes. _

_ Why? _

_ Our lives are a delicate balance. Humans are not delicate. _

_ Will you do anything else with the human technology? _

_ Restore and maintain balance. That is the purpose. _

Lucas had heard all he needed to. He delinked. He rubbed his temples. How were the na’vi handling these changes, he wondered. He was sure some of them would not like it.

He himself wasn’t so sure of his own opinion on the subject.

Lucas tried to wipe away some of the moisture that had collected over his skin. He glanced at the dormitory building some paces away, then shook his head. He wasn’t sure when the next time would be that he would use his avatar. Better to put it into amniotic storage. He would have a lot of work to do from here.

Hayley was halfway through shoving a spoonload of oatmeal into her mouth before she realized that she was awake and having breakfast. Blinking, she reached for her mug of instant coffee and washed its’ entire contents down her throat. 

She really had tried to sleep. Hayley wished that she could sleep in her na’vi form, but it wasn’t possible. As soon as she slipped into a state of drowsiness, she felt the tingling of the link in the sides of her head, then that bright light, then - 

Hayley shook her head. She wondered where Li was. Maybe he was sleeping in, or out driving.

From the centre of her eye she could see Dr. Lucas enter the sparse mess hall. He was heading for her. She hadn’t tackled to Lucas in a while, she realized. Her days as of late had consisted of; wakeup, feed her human body, check the intranet and subspace messages, shower, go for a run or play a round of basketball in the gym, sit in on the occasional meeting, then back into the link as soon as the other duties at the base were complete.

Due to her own biological needs and the length of a Pandorian day, Hayley would occasionally keep odd hours, like Li and the other drivers. It was common for Lucas to not check in on her for a couple of weeks. Even when he did check in, it was brief and to the point. If we wanted more detail, he could always check her vlogs and reports. She had been dutiful in keeping her paperwork current. 

“Good morning, sir.”

“Mind if I take a seat?”

Hayley gestured to the empty bench. Lucas set down his tray. He swigged at his coffee much like she had seconds before.

“How have things been with the ocean tribe?”

Hayley shrugged. “I’ve completed the official ceremony to induct me into their tribe. I’m one of ‘their’ people now.”

“You don’t seem to be very thrilled about that.”

She chuckled. “It’s seven in the morning...I think. But yeah, things aren’t as easy as I thought they would be.”

“How so?”

Hayley stabbed at what was left of her hash brown.

“I guess Sully and I had different intentions going in. Jake had a mission to get to know the Omaticaya so that Quaritch could get them to give up their land. Honestly, I’m glad I ran into you today, because I’m not exactly sure what my mission is, sir.”

Lucas folded his arms behind his head. 

“I think we’re all having to figure that out right now,” he replied thoughtfully. “During the fight, all the people you see here tried to do the right thing. They weren’t thinking about what their new lives would be like here.”

“But we’re trying to figure out how to help the earth now, right? We’re trying to work on bioengineering some sort of solution for energy and oxygen production?”

Lucas nodded. “But you’re wondering what your role is in all of this.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, you know that I’ve been tied up lately in the bioengineering project. Last time we chatted, I had just mounted an expedition to confirm the location of some of the plants Grace had proposed as suitable for alteration. I’ll be honest, Hayley, and say that I haven’t been giving your own mission as much thought as I ought to. I think that an alliance with the ocean tribe and our colony will be helpful to us as we move forward, but perhaps there’s something more there. What do you think?”

“I mean, if we’re being honest with each other...I haven’t been seeing it that way. It’s been a more...personal journey. I’ve made friends I’ve gotten to know them. I’ve been welcomed into their group. But now I’m part of two worlds, and I don’t know which one to pick.”

“Do you have to choose one?”

Hayley nodded. “I know I will, eventually. But won’t we all?”

“What do you mean?”

Hayley looked around the room.

“How long are humans going to exist on Pandora? Are we going to have a real, viable colony here?”

Lucas shook his head. “I don’t know. We might. I think the  _ Star _ may have one more shot at making it here. I think that’s why it’s so important to continue to establish relations with the na’vi. That could be your role, Hayley. You could be the bridge linking our two worlds.”

Hayley nodded.

“Dr. Lucas, have you heard about what’s happening with Ewya?”

To his credit, Lucas kept his face almost completely blank.

“How do you know about that?” He shook his head again. “Of course, the na’vi would know by now. The cat’s out of the bag, as Boers has been saying.”

_ Boers. _ Hayley remembered the last time she had spoken with him. When he told her that the entire human race was fucked. That guilt, anger and frustration welled up, just beneath the surface, all over again. 

“Boers? You’ve been in contact with him?” 

“Yes, regular contact as a matter of fact,” Lucas replied. “I didn’t want to discuss it with you because of the...difficult nature of your last interaction.”

Hayley felt her face glow with a sickly blush. 

“Don’t be embarrassed, Hayley. It was a difficult time for everyone. It’s perfectly fine to be angry. There are still plenty of things to be angry about.” 

They let the silence linger between them for a moment. Hayley considered bringing up what she had learned from Grace/Ewya again, but thought better of it. Lucas had been courteous to her about her breakdown. Maybe she would insist on an update another time. Besides, there were other ways of obtaining information.

“Is there anything else I can be doing to help your mission, sir?” she said, keeping her voice low.

He considered it. “Keep getting to know the natives. Talk to them about how they see our presence here, and what we could do to make our relations better. If anything comes up, just document it and we can make a plan to touch base at the next big meeting.”

Lucas picked up his tray.

“Have a good day, Hayley.”

Evening in hometree. The hunters had brought in a fresh kill, a pa’li. The homemakers had gotten to work stoking the fires and roasting the flesh. Fresh herbs and berries made a marinade that they slathered over the beast as it turned on the spit.

Neytiri tore at her piece. She had chatted idly with some of the others of her clan. Parents, hunters, craftspeople. They were all working together to pick up the broken pieces. They had glued them back together, but their lives were still fragile, too fragile.

“You look like you’re thinking about something important.” 

It was her husband, Jake. He sat down beside her, cross-legged on the earthen floor. He put his arm around her and drew her in close. It made her heart leap into her throat.

“ _ My Jake. _ ”

“ _ What’s wrong, Neytiri? _ ”

“ _ My mother spoke to me this afternoon, about your trip to Vitraya Ramunong.” _

“The Tree of Souls.”

“ _ Yes. She told me the two of you spoke with Eywa about the new changes taking place in her. She said there are many human voices within Eywa now. _ ”

“ _ It’s true. A lot of the people who died at the battle of the Tree of Souls are with Eywa now. But there are other voices, too. Eywa has been absorbing some human technology within herself. _ ”

Neytiri pulled her husband’s arm around her. “ _ Jake, I am scared. I thought the humans would leave us. I thought that it would be fine for some of the good humans to stay. But look at what is happening now! _ ”

“ _ Neytiri, I know why you’re scared. Eywa is changing. But I don’t think we need to worry too much. She has existed for thousands and thousands of years. She’s strong. Humans aren’t all bad. I think she’ll be able to take their good parts and learn from them. _ ”

Neytiri shook her head.

“ _ We should have sent them all away, Jake. I wish you would understand why I feel this way. Mother told me of Eywa’s plan - surely you are concerned too? _ ”

“ _ You mean her plan to try to save the humans on Earth through a starlink? She wants to take in their souls. They’re dying back at home, Neytiri. That’s what we did. We had to do it, otherwise they would have killed us. But we sent these massive events in motion. _ ”

Neytiri looked at him with those fierce glowing eyes, a tigress silently snarling.

“ _ What do you care about them, Jake? You are one of the People, now. You have left that world behind. They doomed themselves. They killed their mother. Maybe there are some good humans left there, and it is sad that they will die. But their ancestors doomed them, Jake. _ ”

“ _ Maybe Ewya will only accept the souls of the good humans. We have something like that back on Earth - God and heaven. Eywa’s like heaven - she’ll take those people who are good. _ ”

“ _ Ewya does not only focus on the good. She cares only about the balance. She takes life and gives it in ways that we do not understand. _ ” Neytiri sighed. “ _ You are my mate, and we are bonded for life. We must be bonded not just here- _ ” she placed her hand on his bare chest, over his sternum, then moved it up to cup the side of his head in her four fingers. “ _ -and we must be bonded here was well. It is difficult because we are so different, Jake. So please, hear me. You must listen. _ ”

Jake nodded.

Neytiri placed a hand over her abdomen. “ _ I worry about the future, about Eywa, not just as the Chieftess. I now worry in a new way. I worry as a mother. _ ”

“You’re-”

Neytiri put a finger to his mouth, a coy smile slowly emerging.

“ _ We will announce it to everyone soon, my mother and I. But yes, it is true. A boy. _ ”

“ _ I thought  _ -” Jake gulped for air, “ _ I thought the avatars were _ sterile-”

“Sterile?”

“ _ Barren. They - they must have made improvements in the...in the way they combined human and na’vi. _ ”

“ _ Your child will be something entirely new, then, _ ” Neytiri said gently. “ _ A new person, for a new world. I pray that we can make his world safe. _ ”

The bones in her hand dropped to the floor as Jake swept her up in his arms and held her more tightly than he’d ever held on to anything in his entire life.


	22. Chapter 21: Pandora's Box Part One

Chapter Twenty-One: Pandora’s Box, Part I

“Her name means all-giving.”

“That explains a lot. I guess whoever discovered Pandora thought the planet would give us everything we needed. What about the box? I never studied Greek mythology in school.”

“It’s been a while for me, too. You don’t get many opportunities to study mythology when you’re in compsci. I remember that there was a mistranslation, and that it’s not  _ really _ a box. It’s more like a jar.”

“Box, jar, whatever the fuck it was, what was inside of it anyway? Evil, right? But why did Pandora have all the evils in the world? Wasn’t she supposed to be giving us gifts?”

“Well, oral tradition is definitely not the same as science. Pandora was supposed to be a punishment when Prometheus stole fire and gave it to humans. I don’t know why they call her the gift giver.”

“Maybe she was a gift, just not from our perspective?”

“What do you mean?”

Jim was just about to further explain his philosophical stance to Fern, when Boers walked in.

“Oh hey Conrad,” Fern chirped, diplomatically re-arranging her feet from their spot on the desk back down to the floor.

“Fern. Jim. I’ve got some news for everyone. Meeting in the boardroom on level five in thirty.”

And with that, he was out the door just as quickly.

They looked at each other.

“He seems even more frazzled, if that’s even possible,” Jim quipped.

They made their way to the boardroom. Like everything in the Tyson Scientific Complex, it was a study in concrete and halogen lights. Jim typically thrived under these kinds of lights, but it had been months. He missed the sun, as dark and greasy as it could be in the carbon-saturated air.

He realized he and Fern were two of the last to arrive. It was eerie to think that the twenty-two people around this table were a third of the staff left on the base. They had almost three hundred before the uprisings. 

“Thanks for coming, all,” Boers said. Jim and Fern quietly took their seats in the uniform, high-backed vatleather office chairs. He was tense, and everyone in the room knew it. The buzz of the lights grew insistent.

“I’m going to get to the point. I’ve received a transmission from the president.”

_ That _ sent a ripple of energy through the room.

“The president hasn’t contacted anyone for the past two months,” exclaimed Sula. She shook her head gently.

“Well, she’s contacted me.” Boers leaned in over steepled fingers. “Dawson and her aids have been living in an emergency bunker about twenty klicks out of Washington. I shouldn’t need to tell you that this is classified intel to the highest degree. The people in this room are the only people in this building who get to know where she is.

“You’re probably wondering what she told me. Dawson asked me for our reports on Pandora, among other things. I sent them about a week ago, and she’s finally gotten back to me. We’re going to D.C., folks.”

“What? What for!?” Dr. Deyton Marrus, head of the biomechanics department. He was one of the older faces at the table. 

“Well,” Boers dragged the word out like he was wiping dog shit off his boot. “Ms. President wants to discuss a plan for using the new Pandorian bio-network to begin processing transfer of refugees through our facility.”

“Holy fuck,” Sula spat. She placed the fingertips of both hands on the table. “It’s been two weeks since we’ve intercepted subspace signals from Pandora, and Dawson is expecting us to take refugees into the building?“

“She wants to talk about how we’re going to transfer their consciousnesses into Pandora’s biosphere.”

“I’m not saying that’s crazy,” Jim offered. “But how are we supposed to do this? Open the gates and let everyone and their cat walk in? How do we decide who gets to go into our machines?”

“And what do you we do with the bodies,” Fern asked.

“What?” Sula.

Fern looked over at her former manager. Sula was still her manager, she guessed, but those titles meant a lot less now that they were stuck here for so long, with society collapsing around them. They had become friends, or maybe more like family, given the semi-occasional bickering.

“If we’re doing a permanent conscious transfer, that means they’re not coming back here,” she said.

Sula looked back to Boers.

“She’s right, isn’t she?”

Boers nodded. “Look, I don’t want to engage in speculation right now. The long and the short of it is, I’m assembling a team to fly out to D.C. Sula, I want you to come. Jim, Fern, I need at least one of you to explain the technicalities to Dawson. Marrus, I either want you to come or one of your interns, as long as he or she’s competent enough to stand in front of the president.”

“My COPD’s been flaring up, Conrad,” Dr. Marrus explained. “I’d rather send Ali. She’s my best postdoc here.”

Boers nodded. “Has the medical team been helping you with the flare-up?”

Marrus chuckled grimly. “I wish the climatologists and politicians could have been of better help, but here we are.”

“We’ll talk later,” Boers concluded with a similarly dour expression. “So that’s a team of four or five. Jim, Fern...thoughts?”

Fern and Jim looked at each other.

“I’ll go,” they said near simultaneously.

Jim smiled. “I’ve had some time on the shooting range recently. I’d feel better if I came with.”

“Maybe this is selfish,” Fern said, “But I’d like to see how things are like out there, Boers.”

Boers nodded. “Thank you, all. We’re out in 0800. I’ll give the team members access to the weapons division. Get yourselves outfitted. Try to get in a bit of target practice, too, before you go. And sleep. I don’t know how much we’re going to get in the days ahead. The rest of you, I’ll need a team here to keep in communicado. We can talk off-line.”

They all nodded.

“Any other questions?”

There were none.

Boers’ lips were a hard line. 

“Let’s get it done.”

“Why aren’t we taking the chopper?”

Jim shouted to Boers over the engine whine as the fighter jet warmed up on the airstrip. He tried to ignore the piles of civilian bodies around him. He tried not to think of whether they had died long ago from starvation, or had been gunned down by the militia sent up before them to secure the area. He tried not to look at the way the hot rain beat down on their bodies, coating them in a rainbow sheen. 

Then, Jim couldn’t help himself. He looked to his left, to the double rows of chain-link fence topped with snarls of rusting barbed wire. He saw piles and lumps, here and there. But there definitely wasn’t a crowd any more. He had felt chilled at the thought of all those people banging on the door, beginning to be let in, screaming in rage.

The sight of the quiet fence chilled him much more.

Boer’s voice broke through Jim’s dark reverie.

“Are you not feeling this air right now?” Boers shouted, struggling to be heard over through his mask. “I don’t wanna do this whole trip on rebreather. The jet’s got filters and enviro control.”

Sula, Jim, Fern and Ali, strapped into combat fatigues and lightweight defense vests, gripped rifles and AKs. They filed over the rain-swept tarmac into the jet. As the engines came to life, they kicked up the rain into their faces. Jim wiped the moisture from his face shield and flicked it away.

Once they were all inside, their pilot pulled up the hatch, gunned the engines, and flew off the launch. 

They were strapped into seats on either side of the main hangar. Boers clipped out first, in defiance of the seatbelt light.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he said, raising his arms in a stretch. “Bit of a gee kick back there. Sit tight. I’m going to check out the situation up front.”

Boers stepped out from the main hangar into the belly of the jet as the others unclipped themselves. It was a mid-sized aircraft, with a latrine, small common area and two cots. Not spacious, but not claustrophobic either.  Enough space to live in if an emergency occurred. He walked up to the cockpit and gave a few polite raps on the side of the door frame.

“Come on in, Conrad.”

Conrad stepped in, and clapped the pilot on the shoulder.

“Nice liftoff, Manny.”

“Thanks. Should be levelling off soon. Radar says the cloud cover should clear in 200km.”

Boers nodded.

He thought it was going to feel more liberating, being up in the air like this. All they had done was move from tubes in the ground to tubes in the sky. He wanted to jump out the back of the aircraft, parachute to the ground, and run home. To his  _ real  _ home that is. 

He shook his head. Who knows where they were by now? Why hadn’t they tried to contact him? He had rung their phones so many times, the no service signal scarred the inside of his ears.

For a brief, sickening moment, Boers couldn’t stop himself from imagining his eleven-year old daughter, clawing at the entrance to the compound, begging to be let in. Begging her daddy to keep her safe.

_ No. I watched those cameras every fucking day. They didn’t come. They must have escaped somewhere else, somewhere safe.  _

Now was not the time to indulge these thoughts, as intrusive as they were. Boers had a mission, and if he succeeded, he could save a lot of lives. He had to hold on to how important that was, even though, in this moment, nothing else seemed important than saving his family. There were so many times he wanted to take a helicopter on his own, to go looking for his wife, his child. But he wouldn’t even know where to start.

So all Conrad Boers could do was sit in this fucking tube in the middle of the fucking sky, with the power to save the lives of all the other people he didn’t really give a shit about.

_ Of all the times the psychologist could have taken mat leave, it was when the world collapsed in on itself. _

The plane kicked its’ engines, and Boers felt the force of gravity push into his feet. He gripped the edge of the cockpit.

Manny gestured to the seat beside him.

“You should be sitting down for this.”

“Now, what would be the fun in that?”

“I’d say not fracturing your spine is a pretty good time.”

Boers obliged. 

The nose of the jet angled down to a parallel position with the clouds. Boers craned his neck, trying his best to take in the sight. There was, as always, a greazy haze sitting over the landscape. That, with the brown-tinged scattering of clouds, made it difficult to make out what was happening below them.

“Are those fires?”

“Looks like it.”

Boers tried to meet the pilot’s gaze, but Manny was focused on the task at hand.

“Is it getting to you, Conrad?”

“If it was, is that something I should be admitting to you?”

Manny shook his head.

“No, according to our military training. On the other hand...does the military even exist right now?”

Boers shrugged. “The president’s still alive. So does that mean America and her values still exist?”

“Some would argue that America died a long time ago,” Manny said. “Can’t say I ever shared that flair for the dramatic.”

Boers didn’t respond. He just looked out at the landscape below. He wondered what it looked like at night. Did the world still look like clusters of fireflies hugged its’ shores?

“I’m sorry about Nella and Michelle,” Manny said. “If you want, maybe we could ask the president to-”

“To do what? More than half of communication systems are down, now,” Boers said. “Let’s be honest. The president didn’t have much power back when shit was working. She sure as fuck can’t help me find my wife and kid. They’re going to have to find me, somehow. Or live out their lives somewhere else, away from the riots and gunfights.”

Manny nodded.

“Maybe it was for the best that Stace didn’t make it back from the middle east. A lot of people are eating lead these days, from what I hear on the radio. She didn’t know it was coming.”

“Fuck, man. I’m sorry.”

“Hey,” Manny gritted his teeth in a smile, “You didn’t put the bullet in her brain. Life happens. Shit happens. Life is shit. But we keep living it, because that’s all we got.”

“Life on Pandora isn’t shit. We fucked things ourselves here. And now we can’t go back there.”

“Yeah,” Manny nodded. “They’d better not fuck up that one, too.”

  
  



	23. Chapter 22: v81 Homesick

Chapter Twenty-Two: v81 Homesick

VLOG ENTRY: 81

Location: PQHKING, 2153

Researcher: King, H. ID# 026 ADC 018

P.I: Lucas, M. ID# 004 GNA 045

LST: 23:01:32:34

Date: 10/15/2154

TRANSCRIPT

I’m one of the people now...sort of. It’s like I’ve been saying. What I did and what Jake Sully did are.. Different in a lot of ways. Jake only wanted to become one of the People. He didn’t care about his body, or, if I can be totally honest, his own people.

Is it so wrong that I care? I don’t want to leave behind my humanity. 

I’m worried though, that I’m going to have to make a choice soon. I think that Lucas appreciates the fact that I can be our new ambassador. I think the folks at the base thought that Sully would be that person, but he’s...moved on. Jake has a lot on his mind these days, leading and rebuilding a broken tribe.

I wish I knew what was happening back home. I mean. Back on earth. I’m really kicking myself. Lucas, I’m not sure how often you review these files, but I have to admit what’s on my mind. I feel so embarrassed about what happened during the battle. I’m not usually an angry person. I don’t usually let that stuff get to me. It...it was just difficult to understand that we condemned the entire human race to death. 

I want to restore your faith in me that I can handle the current situation. I know now that there’s a way to save humanity. And I want to be a part of it. 

I want to help everyone - human, na’vi - it doesn’t matter. And, the way things are now, I feel like everyone needs to pitch in and lend a hand. I’m going to talk to you the next time I see you and see what I can do to help. 

 

*Hayley is seen running her fingers through her hair, then looking at her hand.*

 

Well, anyway...there’s been some big news in the Eastern Ikran Clan. There’s a mountain approaching us. Yes, you heard that right. A massive, floating mountain is now visible just over the horizon. The elders say that, a very long time ago, a similar thing happened. They tell legends about the Travelling Mountain clan, and I’ve heard some of them. The mountain should be passing over us in the next 48 hours, but Onui’lk and Maraut’we and some of the others are mounting an expedition...no pun intended.They’ve invited me to go with them.

I have to say I’m a little nervous, but with all the crazy stuff that’s happened to me over the past few months, what’s another daring adventure?

 

*Hayley is seen smiling.* 

 

Hayley out.

END OF VLOG LST: 23:11:56:12


	24. Chapter 23: Hallelujah, Part I

Chapter 23: Hallelujah, Part I

“ _ Are you ready? _ ”

Avatar Hayley nodded her head, grinning.

“ _ As ready as I’ll ever be. _ ”

Onu grabbed Hayley by the shoulders and drew her into a strong-armed hug. 

“ _ Do not be nervous, _ ” Onu whispered to her friend. “ _ We are strong when we are as one. _ ”

That was reassuring - but, given recent events, strangely foreboding to Hayley. 

Maraut’we brought up the rear. He knelt to the ground, and placed a rolled-up leather package on the ground. Unfurling it, he revealed a set of knives, bows, and arrows.

“ _ I have my quiver already. Onu gave me one of her old ones the other day _ ,” said Hayley. “ _ Let me go grab it. _ ”

Hayley ducked under the entrance to her own hut.  _ Her own home.  _ It was one of the first things that had been granted to her by the clan when she had become one of them. There wasn’t much in it yet, but it was still  _ hers.  _ Hayley had one of those moments of disbelief wash over her again.

Driving an avatar for this long, in this way, felt like a dream. The only difference in this situation was that it was hard to tell which was the dream and which was reality. Every time she went to sleep and woke up back at the base, all the uncertainties began to flood back in. She felt that there was something that she ought to be doing that she wasn’t.

But then, Hayley would wake up here, among a people who fully accepted her, with a friend who was becoming closer to her every day, and a place in an ancient society of which she was becoming a valued part. 

So maybe, she thought, it was more about telling the dream apart from the nightmare.

She slipped out of the hut, clutching her quiver. Onu picked up a bow and handed it to her. 

“ _ This one is light, but strong, like you. I think you will like it. _ ”

“ _ H..how much fighting are we planning on doing here? _ ” Hayley asked tentatively.

“ _ No one ever plans to fight, _ ” Maru chimed in. “ _ But a wise person is never unprepared to fight. _ ”

“ _ I said, don’t be nervous _ ,”Onu reiterated. “ _ You have been practicing. You are becoming a good shot. _ ”

Onu raised her hands to her mouth, then let out a long, loud whistle.

“ _ Eskareil! Da’gr! _ ”

“ _ Naela! _ ” Maru cried.

Eskareil and Dagger plunged down from the air, circling each other. Hayley grinned in exhilaration. The way they careened through the air...It was nice that the two of them were making friends. She wondered if her bond with Onu was rubbing off on the two of them somehow. Naela followed in hot pursuit.

In one smooth movement, Onu mounted Eskareil as he swooped to the ground. Hayley felt herself being buffeted by his wingstrokes, and crouched for balance. Onu flashed her a grin to match her own, and it made Hayley’s heart leap into her chest. Dagger thumped to the ground right beside her. Hayley stroked his skin as he bucked, marvelling at how alligator-like it was. 

_ Alligators.  _ One of the only creatures who hadn’t gone extinct. Perhaps the dinosaurs would inherit the earth again.

Hayley grasped the antennae-like neural whip on her side, and jumped, flinging a leg around Dagger’s neck. “Hyah!” Hayley cried. Onu and Maru joined her, as did the rest of the scouting party. Hayley chanced taking a hand off one of the antennae to check that her quiver and bow were still in place. Then, with a great lurch, Dagger pounded his wings and launched back into the air. 

She held on tight as Dagger pointed his nose into the air, beating his membranous wings. Even though her body was larger and heavier, it soared through the thick atmosphere, uninhibited by the lighter gravity. It was how the ikran could fly in the first place, she was sure. Dagger screeched, and so did she. He felt Hayley’s excitement, and was returning it to her in a feedback loop. The feeling intensified even further when Hayley looked around her and saw dozens of ikrans joining the flock. 

Onu took the lead. It wasn’t difficult to see where they were going. The mountain had been growing steadily closer and more visible over the past few days. It would likely take around an hour to reach it.

_ Amazing,  _ Hayley thought.  _ A floating mountain clan, travelling the world.  _ Pandora was a massive planet. They had done a geological survey of the entire sphere. This particular location, or the location of the Omaticaya to be precise, was selected as it had the largest concentration of unobtainum. But there were other deposits elsewhere. And there could be other people elsewhere. In fact, there could be Na’vi over the whole planet, or even another sentient species. It wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. Humans and neanderthals had co-existed.

And what was Eywa like on the other side? Did she comprise the entire planet? Hayley tried to remember how fast it took for the signal from a neuron to pass through the human brain. It depended on the size of the myelin sheath, or the insulation for the cord. Even then, there was a limit to the speed of electricity. Hayley wasn’t sure what that was, but she thought back to her days playing video games in VR. If she played a popular game, the system would be able to match her up with people who were in the local area. The ping was good, and the game ran smoothly with the other online players. If she decided to try one of her older, childhood games for the sake of nostalgia, she might be matched up with a player from Russia. The other player would jump and jitter around the map, as the signals took their time to travel into her computer.

_ She doesn’t have to think quickly, though. _

Hayley felt a shudder ripple through her body. She thought about the way the humans had clear cut the forest to build their base. Had they realized then that they were basically giving the planet a lobotomy?

Onu glanced behind to Hayley and gave her that smile again. Another pang shot through her chest.  _ Onu. _

Maru pulled up beside her. 

“ _ How are you doing? _ ” 

She hadn’t really given it much thought recently.

“ _ I’m doing all right! _ ” she replied. 

There was a decent amount of wind that was kicked up, and they both knew it would be too much of an effort to continue an in-depth conversation. But even that short exchange seemed to speak volumes. Maru was thinking about her, worried about her. Hayley realized that she must have had a strange expression on her face.

Soon the floating mountain came into closer view, so that they could make out some of its details. Hayley was now able to make out a cobweb of vines that criss-crossed its’ rock face and strung along some smaller rock outcroppings.

What would Earth have looked like with such a strange geomagnetic phenomenon? Hayley wondered. Would people travel to the floating mountains, or would they deem them to be too dangerous? According to the Omaticaya, the mountains would regularly break apart or smash together. 

Given that humans used to ascend Everest by the hundreds before the route was shut down, it was clear they they would do just about every foolish thing that they could. Humans often did things for that very reason - just because they could. Herself included.

Was she still human?  _ Of course,  _ she reasoned with herself. She had a human body back home. Was she na’vi? He friends seemed to think so. 

_ Having a problem with something your culture does doesn’t make you any less of a member of that culture.  _ But Hayley was having trouble trying to convince herself of this. Mating for life seemed like more of a biological rather than cultural imperative. She could feel it happening between herself and Dagger. When two animals made tsaheylu with each other, they changed. They didn’t quite blur together, and they didn’t make something entirely new. But Hayley felt herself adopting some of Dagger’s...attitudes? Mannerisms?

When they were apart, she saw the world, in some ways, as he did. Her shoulders itched when she looked up into the sky, wanting to be up there. She squinted in the night, trying to capture the extra spectrum of infrared. When someone brushed up against her, she resisted the urge to flare her wings and return a guttural warning growl.

Dagger, on the other hand, had changed too. He seemed to be more...curious? He didn’t really contemplate much, as he wasn’t an intellectual type, like her. But he seemed to second-guess his actions. She could see and feel as much when they flew. Sometimes it was up to her now to be decisive on their flight direction or course of action.

They had changed each other. What would bonding with a na’vi do? How would it change her?

She wanted to make that bond with her friend. 

Did it always have to be sexual with na’vi? Or was there no other course of action once you had stared into someone else's’ soul than to desire to taste their body fully?

Then there was the larger question - is that something that could happen between two na’vi women at all?

Dagger pushed through her ruminations to alert her -  _ wrong. Danger. Toruk.  _

Hayley put aside her thoughts. Crouching, she had just enough time to see a shadow on the trees above her when Dagger banked hard to the left. 

“Holy shit!” She yelled.

“ _ Hyah!”  _ Onu yelled, diving in a different direction. The rest of the group followed their lead, scattering to the winds. 

The toruk was on them. Hayley/Dagger tucked in their wings and body to plunge faster toward the trees. Hayley changed a look behind them. This toruk was a bright blue blur veined in gold. The length of the creature’s fangs sent an electric jolt of panic through her.

She felt the air knocked out of them as they crashed through the branches below. Dagger quickly recovered, snapping his wings out and careening through the canopy. He was looking for a place to hide. Dagger told Hayley that the toruk usually did not pursue once they were in the trees. It would be too difficult for the creature to maneuver.

The great blue beast crashed through the canopy as Hayley/Dagger alighted on a tree trunk out of sight. For a split second, Hayley felt her heart plunge through her stomach as she saw the toruk weave his way through the underbrush towards them. 

“ _ Ai ai!”  _ Came a voice in the trees. The toruk bellowed, and changed course. Vines snapped and foliage rained down as it flew off. 

_ Fuck, that was close. _

And then - 

_ We shouldn’t keep hiding. We should find the others. Find Onu. _

_ How much help can we be? _

_ No.  _ Hayley furrowed her brow. _ Let’s go.  _

They lept off the tree and followed the toruk. As Dagger pumped his wings, avoiding nearby limbs, Hayley slipped the bow from her shoulder, and grabbed an arrow from the quiver. She couldn’t help it - she wished it was a gun. It would make this easier. 

They followed the sound of the voice. Hayley/Dagger looked through their eyes to look for heat sources. There was the smear of the toruk. 

_ Look for the brighter shapes...mammals give off more heat.  _

Through the static of the trees, Hayley could make out a few figures in the distance.

_ What is the most vulnerable location on the toruk’s body? _

_ The head is protected. Attack the gills.  _

Hayley tightened her grip on her bow.

The toruk was in pursuit of a smaller figure. The duo flapped harder through the heavy air. Two trees later, they were in visual range again.

Maru and Naela were circling around the toruk. They were in a clearing. Directly across from where Hayley/Dagger were hovering, there was a sheer rock wall.

_ Shit.  _

Dagger landed on a nearby branch, and bowed his head.

The toruk would be able to see them, smell them, from this distance, but it was too occupied with Maru.

_ He’s cornered.  _

Hayley focused her mind. She drew her bow, pointing down the creature with two fingers. The bowstring bit into her fingers. Her tail whipped back and forth as she balanced herself.

As Maru/Naela spun around, he briefly made eye contact with her. His eyes were wide. He had his knife drawn. 

Dagger’s eyes caught the infrared wisps of the others closing in on them, including some riders that were descending from above. But there was no time left.

Hayley loosed the arrow.

The toruk reared as the arrow made its’ way into the soft flesh of the intake gill on his right flank. It turned to make its’ way toward them, teeth glistening and tongue twisting. Hayley clutched at the next arrow in her quiver.

“ _ Hyarrgh! _ ” She yelled back at him, her voice matched with that of Dagger’s. 

A red glow plunged through the leaves above, and the blue toruk seemed to falter. Hayley/Dagger tucked in tight and fell off the tree just in time to avoid the creature’s bulk from crashing into them. As they maneuvered, leaves and brush showering down among their wings, they saw that someone was on the red toruk’s back. 

“Toruk makto!” Came a voice from behind her. 

_ Looks like the cavalry has caught up.  _

The blue toruk tried to take a few downward swipes of its’ wings, and faltered again. This time, the rumbling cry of the red toruk was matched with a na’vi cry. The man who had bonded with it pulled at the creature’s antennae as they fumbled through the sky in pain.

“ _ Too late! _ ” came a cry from up above them.

“ _ Hailei, stop! _ ” 

Onu and Maru swooped down through the trees, followed by three unfamiliar faces. Hayley/Dagger reared up, and found another nearby tree to cling on to. Maru and Naela dug their claws into the bark of the tree beside her, and Onu/Eskareil quickly followed suit.

“ _ Are you alright? _ ” Hayley shouted. She realized her hair was hanging in limp strings around her face, her skin covered in a tense sweat. 

“ _ That toruk belongs to a toruk makto of the mountain people, _ ” Onu said, chest heaving. 

“ _ What? I thought Jake was the only... _ ”

Onu shook her head.

“ _ You must put away your bow now. We are prisoners. _ ”


	25. Chapter 24: Pandora's Box Part II

Chapter Twenty-Four: Pandora’s Box, Part II  
“There.”  
“Where?”  
Manny pointed just to the right of where they were headed. Just above the ruddy clouds, it was possible to make out the jagged tip of...  
“Mount Rainer,” Boers confirmed. “That’s where they said they would be.”  
The floor pitched beneath him as the pilot made a slight course adjustment.   
“Need any help?”  
Manny broke his concentration on the controls in front of him just for a moment, so that he could look across the room at Commander Boers. Even through his aviators, Boers could tell what Manny was going to say.  
“You know I’ve been doing this long enough to know this bird inside and out. Just strap yourself in and get ready for a quick descent.”  
Conrad considered joining the others, but changed his mind and sat down, strapping himself into the co-pilot’s seat. I want to see what it’s like up here. It’s been a while.  
“Well I’m here if you - “  
Manny raised a hand, flipping a thin metal switch.  
“Base Romeo-Tree-To, this is is November-Fower-Fife-Yankee-Zulu, requesting landing procedure.”  
A thin voice filled the cabin, along with a barrage of static.  
“Yankee-Zulu, this is Romeo. Request for landing granted. Please proceed to broadcasted coordinates. Romeo out.”  
The channel cut off.  
“Not very friendly today,” Manny observed.  
“I don’t think they’re friendly, ever.” Boers said. “This is the president we’re talking about.”  
As they plunged into the clouds, Boers felt the kick of the engine, followed swiftly by the gut-dropping pushback of turbulence as they slipped underneath them.  
“A lot of currents getting kicked up here,” Manny said. “I miss mission control’s weather reports. The bird does fairly well with its’ own sensors, but it’s not the same.”  
No, you’re right. Nothing is the same.  
A minute or so, and the rocking calmed as they cleared the cloud cover. Boers craned his neck to survey the scene below. Nestled in the crags of the mountain was a blinking asphalt circle.  
“No runway on a mountain, huh,” Boers observed.  
“Nope. gonna have to do a stall and quick pull up,” Manny replied.  
Manny’s hands flew across the dashboard. He flipped open a second communications channel - this one for the crew members in the back.  
“Hope you guys are holding up ok. We’re gonna feel one more big push as I aim for the landing pad. Brace yourselves.”  
Boers hooked his right hand into a nearby grab bar in the roof.  
With a pull on the control column, Manny cut down the engines and tilted the nose up on the jet plane. Boers gut had dropped moments ago. Now it began to rise into his throat. His head pushed back into his chair. There was a small bump as the aircraft settled onto the tarmac. Manny cut the engine completely, and it whined down to a halt.  
“Don’t forget the parking brake,” Boers quipped. Manny flashed him a small smile.  
“Now the real fun starts.”

“Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom.”  
The woman in the driver’s seat turned her head halfway, hoop earrings swinging with the the movement.   
“Shelly, this isn’t a good place to stop. Can you wait ten minutes.”  
“Mhm.” The girl squirmed about in her seat, but acquiesced.   
“Thanks, hon. I know it’s hard. We’re almost there.”  
Shelly looked out the window, staring at nothing. She was a gangly kid, with curly brown hair tucked into a ponytail with the help of a bright blue scrunchie. She wore a jean jacket, a black skirt, and pink tights with a slightly scuffed pair of rainbow high tops. The child was also nearly buried among a pile of rucksacks, garbage bags, and other things they had packed in too short a time.  
Her mother had also put in a messy ponytail, to keep her hair out of her eyes, but her curls were looser, and her skin lighter. Nella Boers gripped the steering wheel of the minivan with chapped hands. It was oppressively hot and stuffy in the car. The woman glanced longingly at the crate of water bottles in the front seat. She pulled her eyes back to the road with considerable effort.   
Too soon. We have to ration.   
There was a portable filter in the back, buried somewhere in everything she managed to shove in the car before the riots reached their remote pocket of suburbia. But there was no water, not here. There was a rest stop coming up soon. Nella was surprised there was anybody else on the road at this time of day. 4:36 AM, the car clock read. Squinting at the yellow stripe of highway ahead of her, she clicked up the highbeams another notch. Under normal circumstances the action would reward her with angry car horns, but the lights were off on this highway. Everyone was doing the best they can to get by.  
They were the lucky ones. Nella couldn’t sleep through the night anymore these days. Too hot, and she kept waking up in sweats from the nightmares. Violence, bombing, shootings, all over the news. Angry people, with nowhere to direct their anger. Well, they thought there was a good place to direct it, mostly against people in positions of power, and people who looked or thought differently than them. Mosques burned, politicians were assassinated. There were mass exoduses, people scrabbling over themselves heading north, to be shot down at the Canadian border. Nobody was laughing at their military now - that changed when the cost of water surpassed the cost of oil.   
It was her husband’s association with the military that was keeping them on the road. Gas credits, mileage permits...they went a long way.   
4:52 AM. Nella pulled right onto the off-ramp. A sign flashed an eerie green above them - Highway 92. She pulled off at the nearest side road, killing the high beams and reducing their speed. The road soon ended in a gravel parking lot shrouded in tall grasses. She turned off the car engine. Rummaging around on the front seat, she grabbed a roll of toilet paper and a high-powered flashlight..   
“Let’s go, sweetie.”  
They stepped out of the car into the early morning air. Mercifully, it only had the tang of stagnant water. Nella had grown far too used to the acrid aroma of oil and the ozone smell of air-scrubbers that hit her every morning she walked through the parking lot to her office. It was good to know that there were still some healthy green spaces out there despite the quick rise in temperature and resulting drought in this part of the states.  
“Mom...” Shelly was tugging at the side of her jeans.   
“Go on!” Nella insisted.  
“I want you to come.”  
“Honey, what about the car?”  
But Shelly was squirming again, in a mixture of fear and discomfort.  
“Okay, okay. I’m sure it will be fine.” The radio said it would be safe here. Maybe she could relax, for just a moment.  
They waded into the grass. Crickets chirped insistently. No frogs. Nella felt a pang of sadness rip through her chest. She had tried to save them. Fifteen years ago, she had published a paper on the diminishing habitats and frequency of all frog populations in California. That had been back in her postgraduate days, when she still thought she could change the world. On the weekends, she would drag an indifferent Conrad into the creeks behind their college, picking up garbage with her other activist friends. Where are they now? She couldn’t bring herself to care. She just wanted her husband back.  
“Don’t look, mom.”  
Nella turned off the flashlight and looked away. Behind them, the odd set of lights was visible moving along the highway. It would have been peaceful, if her heart wasn’t thumping like a jackhammer. Her fingers touched the hilt of the pistol in its’ holster on her waist. She hoped the past few weeks of practice were enough. It has been a while since Conrad had taken them to the firing range.  
She heard Shelly fiddling with her clothes, and then, a second sound coming from the opposite direction.  
“Mom, wha-”  
“Shhh,” Nella hissed. “Stay here, and stay low, don’t move.” In the darkness, Nella could see Shelly trembling, but doing as she was told.   
Nella stalked forward, back along the way they had come. Her heart pounded even harder. She saw the flash of a light up the hill, where the car was. Then, a scratching sound. She drew the pistol, and moved closer.  
A grizzled man with dirty, shoulder-length hair, bare-chested and in jean shorts and running shoes, was trying each door handle. He yanked hard on the passenger side door, cursed, and kicked the door hard enough to dent it. He started stumbling around the clearing, picking up rocks and inspecting them. He was getting closer to her. Nella took a deep breath, raised the gun, and looked down this stranger through the sight.  
The pistol flashed in front of her, recoiled with a sharp pop. The man stumbled back, tripped, and fell onto his back. Nella moved through the grasses. The bullet had hit - but where.  
“What the fuck - arrrgh...”  
She said nothing. She was nothing but a shadow. Nella moved with the night. Thump, thump, thump.   
The grizzled man clutched his chest. That could be a bad wound, Nella though. Or it might not be enough. She had to act now. Stepping up into the clearing, she aimed and fired again.   
-POP-  
She could hear her daughter sobbing, somewhere behind her down the hill. The man was still moving, using the part of his brain that wasn’t hanging out the side of his head. He was mumbling something garbled. There was so much blood.  
-POP-  
The last one finally made him stop.  
“Shelly!” Nella yelled. “Come here!” She holstered her weapon and fumbled for the keys in her pocket. The adrenaline was starting to kick in. Her hands shook as she tried to unlock the car. Was that shouting in the distance?  
The girl burst out from the grass. The toilet paper was trailing behind her, the roll still in her hand.   
“Get in the car!”  
“Over there!” Another man’s voice, calling out in the distance.  
Shelly slammed the door on the passenger side. Nella leaped in, slamming her own door, and shoved the key into the ignition.  
“Baby, get your head down from the window.”  
The engine roared into life. Through the ringing in her ears, she heard a familiar crack.  
“Fuck!” she shouted. Flooring the accelerator, she turned the car around and back up the gravel path. “Fuck, fuck, fuck...”  
A figure passed by, caught in the running lights, and then another.   
-POP-  
The passenger door window exploded. Shelly choked out terrified tears. Nella yelped. Spinning the steering wheel, the minivan screeched as they turned the corner and leapt back onto the highway.  
“Mom, what were those men doing?” It was difficult to hear Shelly through the roar of the open window. “Did you shoot someone?”  
“Once we get to the base,” Nella shouted over the wind, “We’ll be safe. We’ll be safe,” she whispered to herself, inaudible through her daughter’s tears.


	26. Chapter 25: The New Normal, Part I

Chapter Twenty-Five: The New Normal

“ _ What are you doing? _ ”

The feminine voice caught Norm off-guard. He turned around to see the na’vi who had snuck up behind him.

“ _ Oh, Ninat. Hi, _ ” Norm stumbled over his words. “ _ I’m working on making a _ garden.”

Ninat crouched down beside him. Her hair, long, dark and unbraided, flowed over her shoulders. She had a small, ochre flower tucked behind an ear studded with beaded earrings. Her queue was hidden by a fishbone braid. Ninat, Norm noticed, had sharper features than some of the other na’vi woman he had seen. Her cheekbones were set high underneath streamlined eyes. 

“ _ What is a gar-dun? _ ” she said, crinkling those eyes in bemusement.

“A garden...” Norm searched thought his na’vi vocabulary.  _ No na’vi has ever gardened before? Really?”  _ “ _ It is like a ‘ewll’awm - plant camp. It makes it easier to harvest. _ ”

“ _ You make the plants live here, close to hometree, _ ” Ninat reiterated. She placed her hand on the tilled soil. She looked at him, teeth glinting in a friendly smile. “ _ What if they do not want to live here? _ ”

Norm wasn’t sure how to answer her.

“ _ I did not know that plants wanted anything. _ ” 

“ _ It is the will of Eywa, _ ” Ninat clarified. “ _ The one plant has no will. The one na’vi, without guidance, is alone and lost. _ ” She fingered the fronds of a pineapple plant seedling. “ _ We should not choose where the life of another goes. _ ”

Before he could stop himself, Norm blurted out, “ _ But the seeds of these plants are carried by animals, on their bodies or when their fruits are eaten. Isn’t that the same as me taking the seed and planting it somewhere else? _ ”

He expected Ninat to challenge him, but she narrowed her eyes and brought her three fingers to rest gently on her lips. 

“Y _ ou are different, Norm Spellman. But what you are saying is not wrong. Just different _ .” Her expression changed, becoming less decipherable. “ _ I heard that you are ascending iknimaya tomorrow. _ ”

The mention of the ceremony sent Norm’s heart up into his throat. “ _ Yes _ ,” he gulped. Jake had made it through - but Jake was stronger than him. Jake had gone to the banshee rookery, made it out alive, and made it look easy to boot. Never mind that he had only spent months, not years, preparing for that moment. 

“ _ When I ascended iknimaya and chose my ikran, _ ” Ninat continued, “ _ My ikran threw me into a rock and broke my arm. _ ”

“ _ Really? Are you okay? _ ” Norm asked reflexively.

“ _ Mo’at gave me a bandage to keep my arm still and to let the bones knit themselves together, _ ” Ninat said. “ _ I felt weak, though. I had never heard of another Omaticaya injuring themselves in that way before during the choosing of the ikran. _ ”

Ninat moved her hand that had caressed the dirt to his shoulder. She squeezed gently. 

“ _ You will be fine. Bones knit, wounds heal. The wound that comes from hiding from your fears will infect your soul. _ ”

It was a hard truth, but the truth nonetheless. 

“ _ What did you see on your quest? _ ” Norm asked.

“ _ My what? _ ”

“ _ The dream quest, _ ” Norm asked. “ _ I will have to do the quest after I choose my ikran. _ ” To be a part of the Omaticaya, he also had to participate in the ceremony of manhood - the dream quest. He would undergo two toxic effects at the same time - that of a glow worm and another of a scorpion-like stinging insect. Jake had said that it hurt like hell, but he had an incredible vision - the toruk -  _ last shadow.  _ And sure enough, the toruk had come.

What would he see in his own vision?

Ninat flicked her ears in amusement. Then her eyes grew distant. “ _ I saw a great number of spirits, all around me. I sang to them, and their hearts glowed in their chests. My great-grandmother came to me, then, and we sang together. Then, my body flew upward into the sky, and the whole world and I sang together in unison. _ ” She closed her eyes, her lips parted as if she was about to sing. Her other hand went to her chest, nestled in between the feathers and beads covering her body. 

“ _ What do you think it meant? _ ” Norm asked reverently. 

“ _ The dream, once found, may take the rest of your life to decipher, _ ” Ninat replied. “ _ The quest only begins in the womb of hometree. It does not end there. _ ”

“ _ Why did you come here to see me? _ ” Norm blurted again. “ _ Was it just because you were curious about the garden? _ ” 

Ninat’s tail flicked hypnotically, back and forth. “ _ You say a garden is a place where you collect things to grow. You should pay closer attention to the wild things that grow around you, despite your own intentions. _ ” And with that, she began to walk off.

Norm sat on his haunches, and rubbed his forehead.

“The wild things.”

Ninat stopped and turned back to him, brow furrowed. Norm realized his mistake.

“ _ Sorry, I was speaking my native language. _ ”

“ _ The language you are speaking sounds like the new voice of Eywa. _ ”

_ What? _

_ “What do you mean?”  _ Norm asked.

“ _ Eywa is speaking in the way that dreamwalkers do, _ ” Ninat replied, suddenly solemn. “ _ Chief Jake and Tsahik Mo’at have been worried. _ ”

“ _ Are you worried? _ ”

Ninat shrugged. “ _ No. Eywa decides who she wants to be, not any of us. And besides, _ ” she added, “ _ music is music, no matter what language. _ ”

 

Eventually, Norm found someone who was able to tell him where Mo’at was.  She was in the upper branches, in her private chamber. A part of Norm was irrationally jealous - the part of him that had always wanted a treehouse to play in when he was a kid.

The private chamber was woven together from the living branches of the tree, like most structures in the new hometree. The entrance reminded Norm of a bird’s nest that he had heard about in some documentary. Film - that’s something he would never see again. Norm felt the pang of his cold feet at becoming indoctrinated in the Omaticaya intensify further.

_ Why can’t I stop thinking about all the things I don’t have right now?!  _ The kiss with Hayley. He had thought about that a lot over the past couple of months. Things had changed a lot since then, even in that small span of time. And yet, he still thought about her.

He hadn’t worked much with Hayley, back in the compound. He was a xenoanthropologist, and she was a biologist. Sure, they had the same boss, but that didn’t mean that their projects intersected all that often. Actually, come to think of it, Hayley and Norm had seen each other the most as avatars, in the training program together. They had sort of become...bros. Bras? Norm smiled to himself a bit. He was just falling for Trudy, then. Sure, Hayley was hot, in a lanky brunette kind of way. When it came to him and Trudy, though...well, opposites attract. Hayley was a lot more like him. Sure, she had a fiery temper, but it only came out when she was defending other people. She rarely stood up for herself. Hayley had more of a vulnerability in that sense.

Norm realized that he had been standing in front of Mo’at’s quarters the whole time he had been daydreaming. The wind made the vegetation-choked branches sway and hiss. Norm was suddenly acutely aware of how high up he was.

“M..mo’at?”

She emerged from the darkness of her room.

“ _ Yes, Norm, what is it? _ ”

“ _ I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment, _ ” Jake requested. He could never tell how Mo’at was feeling, unless she was upset.

“ _ It is not customary for that who is going on the ascension to iknimaya  to speak to me so soon beforehand, _ ” Mo’at cautioned him. Then, her voice softened by a shade. “ _ But you still have much to learn, Norm Spellman. And I can see that something is bothering you. Come in. _ ”

Norm ducked into the darkness of Mo’at’s room. He was assailed by strange scents coming from flowers and other herbs hanging from the ceiling. There was enough room for a hammock and a flat surface on which, Norm assumed, Mo’at prepared healing salves and other medicines.

“ _ Tell me what is bothering you _ ,” Mo’at pressed, sitting on her haunches. “ _ Are you worried about the ascension? _ ”

“ _ I am, _ ” Norm said. “ _ Look, I know Jake was a dreamwalker and he was able to complete the ceremony, but I’m different from him. I’m no hunter. _ ”

“ _ Tell me, Norm Spellman _ ,” Mo’at said. “ _ What does it mean to you, to be a hunter? _ ”

“ _ A hunter kills to feed the rest of his clan _ .”

“ _ No! _ ” Mo’at rasped. “ _ You still need to learn this. A hunter is one who seeks something. That is why all the Omaticaya are hunters. We do not wait for our fate to come to us - we see it out, we hunt it down if it flees from us. Do you now understand? _ ”

Norm nodded. “Yes.” 

“ _As you take the tests to become one of us_ ,” Mo’at concluded, “ _Think of what it is you are seeking, and how willing you are to hunt it down._ ” She leaned in, speaking in almost a murmur but with all the intensity of her first outburst. “ _To become Omaticaya, you must find that which you want, and you must hunt it down with all your fury. That is the mark of a true hunter._ _The fury of the hunt will make you fly tomorrow._ ”


	27. Chapter 26: Hallelujah, Part II

Chapter Twenty-Six: Hallelujah, Part II

Hayley strained at her restraints. 

The group of hunters, around fifteen in all, were lead upwards through the floating mountain.  They had to pick their footing carefully in places. Navigating the rocky path would have been dangerous on her own, but being tied to a chain of prisoners meant that if one of them slipped, then they all could be pulled off the side of the mountain as well. 

Hayley tried to keep her eyes to the ground, but she also stole glances at their captors. She hadn’t seen a na’vi with tattoos before, but most of the hunters on either side of her had them. One tattoo that was common were small, dark rings that swirled in various patterns along their faces and chests. Many of them also had woven white beads and shells into their hair, resembling seeds from the tree of souls.

_ How would they know about the tree of souls? Have they passed over it before? _

The hunter to Hayley’s left rammed the blunt end of his spear into her shoulder. She stumbled, exhaling in a quick cry of pain. 

“ _ Eyes to the ground! _ ”

She felt herself being heaved up by Onu, tied up behind her.

They turned a corner, and found themselves in the heart of the mountain people’s camp. Children who tried to run up and see the strangers were rushed away by parents. Hayley, Onu, Maru and the others were lead quickly past these scenes of everyday life and through another crag in the rocks. Hayley caught sight of an enormous tree towering above it before she ducked in herself. When they emerged on the other side, she realized they were in a large room, woven from the roots of the tree. 

Once they were all inside, the hunters left the way they had come. There was a grunting sound, and then a scraping noise, and the light from the entrance disappeared.

“ _ They have trapped us in here with a rock! _ ” one of the hunters cried out.

“ _ What are they going to do with us? _ ” another said aloud.

Faint pinpricks of light were visible all around them from the gaps between the roots, but it wasn’t enough light to see the others. Hayley watched the bioluminescent nodules on her skin flare into life, as did the others. It still wasn’t enough to see anyone clearly, but at least Hayley could tell where her companions were. 

There was a hand on her wrist.

“Hailei?”

“Onu?”

“ _ Yes, it’s me. Maru is here too. We need to cut these bonds. _ ”

“ _ With what? _ ” Hayley asked.

“ _ I found something, _ ” Maru said. Hayley could hear his voice coming from behind Onu. Her avatar hearing was more finely-tuned, her ears swivelling and picking up snippets of conversation from all around her. 

“ _ Just keep still, _ ” Maru warned. 

Hayley felts something tugging, back and forth, at the rope that held her wrists. The dried vine that they had used began to crackle under the pressure of whatever Maru was using to slice the restraint.

The vine snapped, and the ties around her wrists loosened and sagged. Hayley shook them off, then massaged her wrists.

“ _ I’ll help Onu, _ ” Maru said. “ _ See if you can find a way to escape. _ ”

Hayley felt her way through the group, stepping carefully over arms, legs, and ropes, until she had reached the side of their prison. She touched the roots of the tree, pulling experimentally in places to see if there was any give. Some of the roots were more supple than others, but most of them were too large and sturdy to move. She didn’t think there was a space large enough to crawl out of.

“Why did they take us hostage?” she muttered to herself. Even as she said the words out loud, though, she realized that she already knew the answer. It was the same reason that the Omaticaya captured Jake that one night many months ago. Protect the clan first, ask questions later. 

_ Maybe we should have sent a messenger. But then who knows what would have happened to them. Better to go in numbers. _

Hayley thought back to when she had decided, out of curiosity, to go looking through the archives of the Avatar project. Sure, a lot of stuff was still classified, but there was a decent amount available to her at her level of security clearance. Even though the reports were fairly dry, Hayley had a knack for reading between the lines. There was something fascinating, lying under those layers of report-speak.

The Avatar project had been developed a year and a half after the first humans arrived on Pandora. Before that, the humans had stayed in a temporary mobile ship with could hover in the air, or come to rest on the forest floor. It was mobile in case they had to flee from the local flora and fauna, which they did fairly often. 

Back then, the na’vi clans reacted to the presence of humans in different ways. Some, like the Omaticaya, kept themselves hidden. Others, like the horse clan, attacked them viciously until they left their territory.

The first meeting between humans and the na’vi was captured in a video record. In a quiet corner of her quarters one evening, Hayley brought up the log. She watched as three blue figures emerged from the far end of the rainforest where the camera lens pointed.

“Don’t move.” The voice, while a little less rough around the edges, was recognizable. “Don’t make any sound,” Dr. Grace Augustine emphasized.

She stepped into the camera’s focus. A younger Grace, face partially covered with her oxygen mask, put her hand up, signalling whoever was behind the lens. She then took a few steps towards the wary na’vi at the edge of the forest. Hayley found herself on the edge of her seat as the camera feed automatically switched over to Grace’s POV.

Grace’s breaths were shallow and a little bit staticky, punctuated by the hiss of the oxygenator. She stopped moving as the na’vi began to approach them.

“Report, Grace,” a voice crackled in her ear. Hayley started in her desk chair.  _ Quartich. He was there from the very beginning, too.  _

“Give me one second, commander,” Grace replied, keeping her voice low and deliberately calm.

“If I see them make one hostile move,” Quartich buzzed from Grace’s right ear, “I’m employing defensive tactics.”

Grace didn’t respond. She kept her hands open, resting at her sides.

The lead na’vi was drawing close enough to Grace’s camera feed for Hayley to make out his facial features. She didn’t recognize him. There were two others behind him, one male and one female, only one of which Hayley recognized.  _ Who is she? She looks so familiar.  _ She had a fierce face, with a high forehead and proud eyes. 

It hit her all of a sudden.  _ Mo’at.  _ Of course - the records stated that they had finally made contact with the Omaticaya around this time. But what was Mo’at doing here?

The first male looked back at his colleagues. 

“ _ Wait here. _ ”

“ _ They really came from the sky, didn’t they?” _ Mo’at wondered. 

Hayley consulted the record in a different portion of the viewscreen. The male in front was named Antukan. The male to his right was named Dowha. Both had the red letters “DECEASED” come up over their profiles. 

Hayley understood what they were saying, but Grace didn’t at the time, as far as she knew.

Grace pointed to herself.

“Grace.”

Antukan stiffened, then pointed to himself.

“Antukan.”

“Antukan,” Grace echoed. The first na’vi word spoken by a human mouth. Echoes of a person who had now become one with Eywa in the present time. 

From that moment on, it was clear that the tension had broken a bit, like a soap bubble. And for a long time, at least according to the logs, there was an uneasy peace between the two groups. But as the construction of Hell’s Gate swung into full force, relations began to sour between the humans and the Omaticaya. 

After a larger skirmish where many of the Omaticaya and a handful of humans were killed, both groups retreated to lick their wounds. Then, the Avatar program began. They were received well by the Omaticaya at first. They were believed to have been made through Eywa’s will, transforming the humans into People like themselves. Grace was prohibited from making contact again until her avatar was fully grown. One she was able, she established the school. 

It was Grace that had made so many steps towards peace between the two groups. And then came the school massacres.

It was still a wonder that Hayley had been accepted by the Eastern Ikran people. She wondered, though - did they really accept her? But yes, Hayley thought to herself - it wasn’t reasonable to expect that there would be open arms everywhere she went. 

“ _ What is on your mind?” _ Onu asked, having crept through the darkness to Hayley’s side.

“ _ Lots _ ,” Hayley said.  _ “But I was also thinking about how we’re going to get out of here.” _

“ _ Is that a good idea?”  _ Onu countered. “ _ They may try to kill us. _ ”

“ _ I agree.”  _ It was Maru’s voice, emerging from out of the shadows.

“ _ But we don’t know what they mean to do with us, _ ” Hayley countered. “ _ I can’t find a way out from under these roots...” _

Hayley felt Onu touch her arm, moving down until she had found the hand holding her queue. 

“ _ You were planning on using the bond - in what way?” _

Hayley didn’t respond. Instead, she snapped out of her reverie and brushed the end of the queue along the branches, looking for that familiar prickle in her brain.  _ There is was -  _ and just like that, Hayley slipped into the bond.

The last time she had made tsaheylu had been with the tree in the avatar compound. She remembered seeing the tree though all the sets of eyes, feeling overwhelmed and lost. 

She was the only one who was bonded with the tree this time. There were no extra sets of eyes to look around - only darkness, and the feel of warm roots digging into the earth around them. She couldn’t  _ see  _ a way out of this prison, but maybe she could try and find out what they were planning to do. 

Hayley breathed out, honing her focus in deeper. She hadn’t had a lot of practice connecting with Eywa, if she was being honest. That time with Grace - well, Grace had made a lot of the moves, to put it mildly. She thought back to her work in xenobiology, months ago, before the war. What had Grace told her about navigating the bond?

“Hailei.” In a deep part of her mind, she could feel her friend trying to get her attention. 

She tried to put aside her own ego, and sink deeper into the roots. What could this tree tell her? It had been a part of this land for centuries. That meant that it had seen generations of this na’vi clan come and go, had been a part of their ceremonies and way of life. She tried to listen deeper, letting go of her own feelings and worries and becoming part of the greater consciousness.

Roots intertwined with other roots, and as Hayley moved beyond her own mind she began to see the mind of the ecosystem around her. She heard the laughs of children, and the wise words of grandmothers. She couldn’t understand them - the language of the mountain na’vi were too different. But then, she started to catch snatches of other voices, and could feel the echoes of different minds, which were more familiar - 

“Hailei!” Onu exclaimed.

In one jarring moment, Hayley’s mind flew back into her head again, and the voices disappeared. She blinked away the blinding light that flooded the chamber. 

A band of na’vi warriors came in. Their leader, a lean and feathered middle-aged na’vi female, spoke to them. Some of the members of the Ikran clan shook their heads, pointing to their ears.  _ We don’t understand.  _ At first, the mountain na’vi responded by shouting and gesturing at them, but then, they seemed to catch on. The warriors deliberated amongst themselves. The leader, who Hayley guessed was their chief, pointed at the group and made another gesture for everyone to come with them.

As they filed out of the holding room again, one of the warriors barked in Hayley’s ear, tugging sharply at her arm.  _ The restraints. They know we tried to escape them.  _ Hayley was thrown to the ground. She felt the prick of a spear behind her head.

“Hahhh!” There was a sharp hiss and the spear was knocked away, clattering away to the rocks beside them. Hayley scrambled out of the way as Onu flung herself at the warrior who had threatened her. She had him on the ground in second, knife pressed up against his throat, teeth bared in a snarl.

“No, stop!” Hayley shouted. If Onu was killed on account of herself, she would...A strange calm had filled the air, and everyone froze as if suspended in time. 

“Stop...” one of the warriors echoed. He walked in a crouch towards Hayley. Hayley kept herself still, despite the thrumming in her heart. The na’vi was so close she could smell him. Which seemed to be the point. He inhaled, nose flaring, as he touched her hair and traced his fingers over the beads of her chest covering. Onu growled, low and guttural, as a warning.

“ _ It’s okay, Onu, _ ” Hayley said, switching back into the Ikran dialect, hating how shaky her voice sounded.

“I...” the warrior paused, trying to find the words. “I...sei yoo.” Then, he pointed to himself. “Ipxa.”

“Hayley,” Hayley replied, pointing to herself. “No more fighting.”

Ipxa nodded. He then spoke to the rest of the warriors. Bonds were cut and thrown aside. Onu loosened her grip on the knife, then came to her feet and stepped aside, brow furrowed.

“ _ Hailei, what is happening? What did you tell them _ ?”

“ _ I told them to stop fighting, _ ” Hayley breathed. 

“ _ But..how did they understand you? _ ” Onu wondered?

It hit Hayley all at once. The tree roots...she had heard, deep within them, the voices of - humans. 

“Come,” Ixpa said, haltingly. “Come to see our...speaker. She speaks...like the sky.”

 


	28. Chapter 27: Pandora's Box, Part III

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Pandora’s Box, Part III

As Boers and the crew crossed the helipad to the main entrance of the mountain bunker, the door slid open. President Dawson was flanked by two of her aides. All of them, like Boers’ crew, were wearing oxygen filters that obscured the lower half of their faces.

“Madam President,” Boers said by way of a greeting. 

Alleyah Dawson nodded back at him. She was a coiled whip, tall and ready to strike out when the situation needed it. She had fearsome dark eyes, glinting in a dark brown face carved with the lines that come with middle age and the stress of being one of the leaders of a world in peril. She wore a dark blazer and a skirt that swept down to her ankles.

“Inspect them, please,” Dawson commanded.

The two aides moved out. Boers raised his arms and kept his palms upturned. He was pat down first, the others quickly following suit. Their weapons were left back in the jet - no need for them here. Having completed their business, the aides returned to the president’s sides. 

“I’m glad you could make it. Please, come in.” With that, President Dawson turned on her heel and strode back in through the door.

Fern tried to make questioning eye contact with Boers, but Conrad was too focused on getting through the mission.

“Let’s go, team,” he gestured. Fern gave her meaningful look to Jim instead, and along with Sula, Manny and Ali, followed Boers into the bunker.

It took a moment for them to adjust their eyes to the dimness of the interior. It was clear that Dawson had cut power down to the bare minimum. Boers wondered how self-sufficient they were here. Back at the base they were running on their own backup nuclear supply. Still, better safe than sorry.

Rows of lights on the walls led them down one dark corridor to the next. Like the lab, the lack of activity in the bunker was unnerving. The stone seemed to press in around them as they went deeper and deeper. The only sound was their breathing and the click of their shoes against the hard floor.

Dawson flashed a passcard, and they all made their way inside a conference room. Rows of holoscreens lined the walls around them. There was a map of the world, littered with insistent red dots that glittered at them as they winked on and off.  _ Alert, alert. _ T _ hings are going horribly wrong in the world.  _ Other screens projected the news across the world. Some newsfeeds were silent.

“Sit, please.” Dawson sat at the head of the table, while her aides positioned themselves on either side of her. Boers sat on the other end, while Fern, Ali, Sulla, Jim and Manny found their own seats. 

“How have you been, Madam President?” Boers asked. He was feeling tentative, but didn’t let on in his voice. He had spent enough time around high-ranking military officials to have picked up the skill. 

“Commander Boers,” Dawson greeted him back. “I’ve been well. Would you mind introducing yourselves? There are some unfamiliar faces here.”

Boers looked at Sula, who was to the president’s left. He nodded.

“My name is Sula Bhatia, and I am the engineer at the TSC.”

“Jim Flude. Programmer.”

“Hi, I’m Fern Brady. I’m also a programmer.”

“Captain Manuel Briggs, pilot.”

“I’m Alison Higdon, PhD student studying under Dr. David Marrus.”

Dawson nodded. “Welcome, all. I suppose Commander Boers has briefed you on the circumstances for your trip?” 

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Fern took the initiative. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve heard about the consciousness transfer plans.”

Dawson nodded. “Good. I wanted to do this in person. Less chance of our transmission being intercepted, which seems to be more and more of a concern lately.”

_ Was that why he hadn’t heard anything in months?  _ Boers wondered.

“This is what I know so far, based on the work that you and my own scientific  team have been working on,” Dawson continued. “We know that the United States of America is in a state of anarchy and uproar. Over the months, I have been keeping track of the death toll.” She gave the slightest pause, collected herself, and moved onward. “25% of the population was enough to cause a lot of major infrastructure to collapse.”

Jim was shaking his head. “Fighting each other as the whole planet...I just don’t get it.”

“You wanted us to let refugees into the lab to begin the consciousness transfer,” Sula piped up.

Dawson nodded. “We’re working out the procedure, but we have little time left. We need to move now, to preserve as many lives as possible.”

“The consciousness transfer, as far as we know, means that their mind state is going to be transmitted into the biological neural network of Pandora. We can’t guarantee what happens after that,” Boers said. 

“I’m aware,” replied the president. “But there are few alternatives. The cloud is unreliable now, that power is failing. Those same power failures are making it increasingly difficult to supply the billions left on the planet with food, medicine, and clean water. We want to give people choices, which it seems like the planet itself is offering.”

No one had a response to that at first. The grim reality was starting them in the face. Without unobtainium, they wouldn’t be able to create the superconducting components that fueled their solar cells and power generators. The billions of people who relied on those components to heat or cool their homes, cook their food, and run almost every other part of their lives, were already beginning to overheat or freeze, starve, and go without running water for periods of time. Only the rich could afford to hoard energy, but even then, they were beginning to panic. Without access to food and clean water, disease was beginning to run rampage through the population, exacerbated by the air filters running sporadically or going completely offline. Although hospitals were running on rationed energy, they were not well enough-equipped to handle the huge increase in medical emergencies.

And that was only the beginning. Eventually, the sea pumps would have to be shut down, and many coastal cities would begin to flood. Natural disasters would displace even more. Asthma and COPD rates would continue to rise. Maybe the human race wouldn’t die off - but a lot already had, and a lot more would. That’s why the population had begun to riot - they had nothing else to lose, except their lives. Sadly, their efforts had done little more than to increase the death toll. And as for the cloud - the digital afterlife that so many people had uploaded their consciousnesses too after their death? That would eventually go offline too, and trillions and trillions more would disappear.

As much as they all wanted to escape this hell, unobtanium ran the sky, too. Their spaceships used the technology to propel them from one star to the next. And there simply weren’t enough ships to rescue all the refugees. 

So what was left? Beaming yourself into space, onto a lush and healthy world? It wasn’t the best option, but it seemed like a human option. 

“So what is it that we have to do?” Sula asked, a grim edge to her voice.

Dawson picked up on the energy that now pervaded the room. “I know this is hard. We’ve seen a lot of awful things happen over the past months. They’ve impacted us, in different ways. We’re trying to figure out what to do in the face of an almost insurmountable crisis. But I want all of you to know that you have the chance to save the lives of thousands of Americans.”

_ There’s a reason they voted her in,  _ Boers mused. She was a great orator, and she could whip up a rousing speech on the spot. He could already see that her words had stirred a few of his crew. Fern was still looking solemn, though. Boers knew that she had lost a fiancee out there somewhere. They all had suffered, and they all had lost.

“We appreciate the support, Madam President,” he replied. 

“Of course,” Dawson replied. “As to your question...I’ll be frank. You have to find a way to let people into the lab, transfer their consciousness, and then repurpose their bodies.”

“Repurpose...” Jim echoed.

Dawson nodded. “I’m aware that I’m using euphemisms. But euphemisms calm the public. They will make them line up in an orderly fashion outside of the lab, and they will reassure them when they undergo the procedure.”

_ That’s a little naive,  _ Boers thought.  _ I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of guns backing up those euphemisms.  _ One thing he shared in common with the president, though, was the understanding that sometimes it was impossible to tell the people the whole truth. That sometimes there was a need for secret meetings and undercover plans. That sometimes, you had to hold someone’s hand and tell them they were going to be okay, even if you weren’t sure.

“We will send some supports back with you,” Dawson went on. “Will you need any additional supplies?”

Boer looked to Sula - someone in her department was keeping track of inventory. She nodded, and began. “We have about six month’s food and energy stores given the current number of staff on the base. We’re pulling in a little bit more with the solar and hydroponics, as well as the protein synthesizers.”

“Let me ask you something, Ms. Bhatia,” Dawson replied. “Would anyone in your organization be interested in undergoing the consciousness transfer procedure? An estimation would be fine.”

Sula, to her credit, kept her composure, but Boers could tell she had been thrown by the question.  _ She just asked Sula point-blank how many people want to die and become one with Eywa. Euphemisms or not, this situation is getting more and more fucked up by the minute. _

“I would have to ask, of course, “ Sula stumbled just a bit, “But I would say...maybe ten to twenty percent.”

After word had gotten back that the  _ Venture Star  _ was on its’ way back to Earth, sans unobtanium, the public hadn’t exactly know what that meant. Those on the inside - the government, the scientists and engineers working at TSC - had. First, there had been suicides, some of which happened at desks and in front of government buildings. As the riots intensified and illness increased, there were those who just stopped showing up to work. When they had to shut the gates and no longer allowed staff in and out of the building - well, they lost a lot of people then too. 

Of those who remained, about one or two in ten - Sula’s estimate - exhibited signs of depression or agitation. Some of them talked openly about their “back-up option” if the global community couldn’t find a solution to deal with this crisis. Boers tried his best to refer those in that frame of mind to the remaining counsellor within the building, but even the executive staff were beginning to show signs of strain now.

“All right,” Dawson murmured, almost to herself. “Thank you, Ms. Bhatia. Why don’t we start with the transfer internally for the next two weeks, and then Boers can contact me to let me know what complement of staff is needed.”

“We could use additional mental health supports,” Boers added, “If there’s anyone available to come back immediately, or through videoconference.”

“We can arrange that, Commander,” Dawson replied. “That reminds me...I want to apologize to all of you for my radio silence over the past couple of months. Ever since our country has plunged into chaos, there has been increased activity from terrorist groups. We needed time to put certain...protocols in place before I could contact you again. And even then, I wanted to keep things offline as much as possible.”

_ Even government communications were compromised? What the hell is going out there?  _ Boers racked his brain, trying to think back to the news reports he had followed. Sure, he had heard of increased terrorist activity, but to that point - ?

“Now that you’re here,” she continued, “There are a few other items that I want to discuss. There’s a potential mission that I could use assistance with as well. But for this,” she focused her attention on Boers, giving him a meaningful look, “I want to speak with the commander first. The rest of you,” she looked around the room again, “My aides can show you to the common area. There is coffee and pastries there if you like.”

The aide on the presidents’ left stood up, as did the rest of Boer’s crew. They shuffled off and disappeared behind a door at the far end of the room.

“They took it better than I thought they would,” Dawson remarked.

Boers nodded. “This is just the beginning,” he replied. 

“Of course. But all of you are military trained. You get it done, and worry about the details later.” 

“You’re right,” Boers replied. “I think the additional psych support will help, too. Even hearing from you...I think they thought the worst.”

“I think most people think the worst,” Dawson countered. “Which has been both a good and bad thing.” She rubbed her forehead and sighed. “We have a lot of work to do, don’t we?”

Boers nodded. The honesty was refreshing, after all this talk of “consciousness transfer”.

“How have you been holding up?” he found himself asking her.

The president looked up from her hands. “All right. I didn’t want to do the evac, but I was talked into it. The captain shouldn’t go down with the ship if if the ship’s not really going down, they said.”

“At this point,” Boers replied, “I wouldn’t even know what that would look like.”  _ Everybody dying? The earth turning into a swirling vat of toxic waste? _

“That’s the point,” Dawson replied, her voice low. “If the ship does go down, we won’t know it. We’ll be long gone.” She straightened herself up a little bit. “In the meanwhile, its’ up to us to try and patch the leaks.”

Boers had a moment of empathy for her. Had she been married too? Did she have children? Where were they? And she was willing to stay in the white house until the looters came and burned it down. He felt a tinge of guilt for all the times over the past few months that he thought that she had abandoned the people of the United States.   
“Right,” he nodded. “So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“I want to know: how much do you know about the consciousness transfer?” Dawson spoke over steepled fingers. “Do we have any evidence that it’s actually working?”

“I’ve been keeping in touch with Dr. Matthew Lucas of the RDA, up on Pandora,” Boers reported. “His team have confirmed that they have detected human thought patterns within the larger biosphere.”

Dawson let her relief show, relaxing her shoulders. 

“I wish we could have sent them there ourselves,” she sighed. “I’m grateful that Dr. Lucas was able to find a solution, even if we aren’t able to send our people over as refugees.”

_ She doesn’t know?  _ “With all due respect, Madam President,” Boers replied, “It was the planet’s biosphere that integrated itself with our technology. Dr. Lucas has been doing some experiments, but he’s not responsible. I just thought you should know - we still don’t really know how it works. Only that it seems to be working.”

“I appreciate your honesty, Commander Boers. I must have misinterpreted. So, let’s talk about the other missions I need you for.” Dawson leaned in on the table. “Flude and Brady can help us debug some of the surveillance systems. Higdon can help us with understanding of the biological network. Forgive me, but is she really the head of your biomechanics department?”

“Oh, that would be Dr. Deyton Marrus. Ms. Higson is a postdoc of Marrus’.”

The president blinked. “I see.”

“Marrus isn’t doing too well these days. It’s his COPD.”

“Hmm.” Dawson nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure we can videoconference Marrus if need be. So that leaves Bhatia and Briggs.”

“Bhatia can help you if you’re having any issues with solar or hydro.”

“Fair enough,” Dawson nodded. “And Briggs?”

“Well,” Boers shrugged, “I suppose if you need to fly anywhere, he’s your man.”

“Well...” Dawson stood up. She walked over to one of the videoscreens, and pulled it over to the table. “That brings me to your mission.”


	29. Chapter 28: The New Normal, Part II

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The New Normal, Part II

The air felt thinner in the mountains. Norm brushed strands of his hair out of his face. He wouldn’t be able to braid his hair until he had completed  _ iknimaya.  _ He stood on the top of a floating boulder, a string of rocks twisting upward and bound together with vines. The young na’vi around Norm looked up at the tenuous ladder with a mixture of bravado and nerves. He could tell which of the group were here for their iknimaya trial, as they wore the same orange  _ v _ of paint that he did.

“ _ Just follow me _ ,” Jake said, first in omaticaya, then in english.  _ He’s trying and calm me down, make me feel welcome,  _ Norm thought. Jake was getting better at the language every day. It helped, being immersed in the clan. Norm was also sure that Jake spent time learning through listening to the voices of those who came before them. Although the tree of voices had been silenced, there were still those in the tree of souls to hear. Norm knew that Jake had recently been there. When Norm had tried to ask him about it, Jake had been evasive, which was unlike him. Maybe he didn’t want to show any signs of weakness.

The night before this day, Norm had been nervous. _ If I fall tomorrow _ ...he had seen na’vi survive falling from great heights before, but not without serious injury. Jake told him he should trust his instincts. Interesting how the tables had turned - Norm used to be the one telling Jake how to survive in this world. 

Ninat smiled at him, braids flying in the air. Norm found himself smiling back, despite the hammering in his chest. She leapt effortlessly, making nimble strides up the rubble. Norm watched her tail snap back and forth as she kept her balance. 

_ Just...don’t think about it too much. _

Norm started climbing. He wrapped his fingers around each rock and vine in a deathgrip, but he was making progress. He vaguely registered the encouraging words of the hunters above him. His body, though bigger than his old one, still felt lighter in Pandora’s gravity. He clambered up, rock over rock, just trying to keep his focus on the climb and not what lay below him.

Eventually, Norm fell into a rhythm. Reach, pull, push, swing...he was able to let what he understood to be his instincts take over. His thoughts began to wander again.  _ When I was a human, I had a reptilian part of my brain. The part of my brain that told me to run before I even knew I was running. Is this a kind of instinct - the instinct to climb?  _ Strange that humans were afraid of heights, after descending from monkeys. Norm could only imagine what kind of animal the na’vi had descended from. 

Norm looked around him, mindful for a moment of where he was, his human brain taking over again. The trees...they were tiny. Fear pierced his chest and Norm’s muscles contracted in shock.

“S...shit!”

He had been climbing up a solitary vine, and now he was stopped.

“Norm!” Jake shouted from above him.

“Jake, I...” but the words failed him. How had it been so easy, just a second ago? Norm swayed, back and forth, on the solitary vine. 

“Keep climbing, Norm! Don’t look down!” Jake roared down from the rock he and the others were standing on.

Norm forced himself to let go of the vine with one hand and reach up, trembling, to pull himself up. All of his strength seemed to be draining out of him. His palms were becoming slick with sweat.

_ Come on. Get back into the groove, just like before. Come on... _

He pulled himself up another few feet. He felt his body slowly slipping back into climbing mode, his feet wrapping against the vines for extra support. He pulled himself up, and - 

The vine snapped.

At first, Norm couldn’t make sense of what was happening. The rock was flying away from him, and the wind was rushing around him. Then, he realized that he was falling.

_ I’m going to die,  _ was the next thought that shot through his mind. His heart had been pounding so hard before he fell, and now - it was strangely peaceful. The very thing he had feared more than anything was going to happen, whether he wanted it or not. Everything stood out in perfect detail. The tiny leaves on the trees beneath him, the ikran lazily circling through the air on the jungle currents...

_ Trudy, I tried. I’m not made out for this world. For any world. I’ll be with you soon.  _

Something jolted Norm, knocking him square in his back. He gasped for air. Two hands grabbed his own. 

“ _ Arms out! _ ” Ninat yelled over the wind. She pulled at him, and he did as he asked her to do. He felt himself begin to slow. A black blur streamed down in front of him. Norm watched at Ninat’s ikran snapped his wings open. Hand over hand, Ninat guided them until they were positioned right above the ikran’s body. Norm grabbed onto the beasts’ scaly skin. Ninat hauled herself over him, then made the link with her flying mount. 

The ikran roared. It was obvious that he was struggling with the added weight of two riders. Ninat hauled at the black antennae she had wrapped around her forearms as Norm clung to her. 

“Aye aye, Uai’he!” Uai’he and Ninat banked hard to the left, heading straight for a rock outcropping. She hissed, grimacing as she tried to pull the three of them up, to safety.

They rolled over onto the outcropping. Norm lost his grip and went head over heels into the ground. A hot flash of pain hit him as a rock glanced off the side of his ribs. 

“Aghh...” Norm rolled over onto his back. Ninat’s face appeared over him.

“ _ You are bleeding,”  _ she said, eyebrows knit together in concern.

“ _ I am? _ ” Norm tried to glance down at his side, and caught a glance at the dark red smear of blood. it contrasted with the blue of his torn skin.

“ _ Wait here. _ ” Ninat put a hand out, motioning for him to keep still. She stalked around the edges of the floating rock they found themselves on. She reached down into a outcropping wet with the spray of a nearby waterfall and plucked out tufts of moss. 

“ _ Hold these to your side. _ ” She handed Norm the moss, and he obliged. The pain in his wound flared as he put pressure on it. 

“ _ The wound is not a bad one,” _ Ninat evaluated, her fingers dragging over the skin surrounding the site of his injury. “ _ You should still be able to walk, and climb.” _

“ _ You saved me,”  _ Norm realized. His brain was struggling to catch up, to realize that he had been so close to death. 

Ninat nodded. “ _ I am glad I was there to catch you.” _

Norm looked around. It was just the two of them, here on this rock. 

“ _ Where are the others?” _

“ _ They will continue on,”  _ Ninat informed him. “ _ They will continue to go create the bond. _ ”

“ _ What about Jake? _ ” Norm said, feeling disgusted at the desperation he heard creeping into his voice.

“ _ Jake is their leader, _ ” Ninat said matter-of-factly. “ _ He has to think of the rest of his people. _ ”

“I’ve failed, then. _ ”  _ It was the knife of failure twisting into his chest, not the pain in his ribs, that brought tears to his eyes. Ninat sat beside him as the hot waves crashed over him and poured from his eyes. She eventually said, very quietly...

“You...did not fail.”

“What?” Norm rubbed his face roughly with the back of his forearm. Ninat had spoken in English. “ _ How do you know the tongue of the sky people? _ ” 

“ _ I was with Neytiri and her sister, Sylwanin, at the school. When Greis lived among the people. _ ” Ninat pursed her lips. “ _ You have not failed. You can try again. _ ”

Norm scrambled to his feet. He paced at the edge of the rock., running his fingers though sweat-drenched hair.  _ Trudy, I know you told me to be strong, but... _ He spun around to look at her. 

“ _ You should have let me die when I fell. _ ” 

Ninat sprung at him, hissing. She grabbed his arm and flung him onto the ground, away from the ledge. Norm yelped as he landed on his wounded side again. She stalked up to him, fangs bared.

“ _You listen to me Norm!_ ” She shrieked at him. “ _I have watched you, ever since you came to join the Omaticaya. You dragged yourself about, this way and that, talking about how you don’t belong, how you aren’t fit to be one of the people. I used to think to myself, ‘It is sad that he had to leave his home, of course he would be upset!’ I tried to help you, to be your friend, to make you feel better and help you belong here.”_ Her tail slashed back and forth behind her, and then...her face changed. The corners of her lips twisted downward, trembling.

“ _ I had a brother. He died of the sickness that kills you from the inside out. I went to Greis for help. She taught me the word for what Alukin had.  _ Cancer.” Her mouth contorted even more as she spat out the word. “ _ How can you talk of throwing your life away when Ewya took my brother and so many more of my people!?”  _ Ninat turned her back to him, and the next words that she spoke were strangled, as if she was trying to hold back the entire weight of her own suffering.

“ _ You have no respect for Ewya’s will. We all fail, but that does not mean that you throw away everything precious that you have. _ ”

“ _ Ninat, I...” You coward,  _ Norm thought to himself. Ninat was right. All this time he thought that he had been in mourning...he now saw that he really had just been feeling sorry for himself. And it needed to stop. 

Norm stumbled to his feet for the second time. Fresh blood leaked through the fingers holding his side, but it went unnoticed. He walked up behind Ninat as she stood, body trembling, on the side of the ridge.

“ _ I am so sorry,”  _ he murmured.

Ninat turned around. Her face was streaked with tears, but there a fierceness still lurked beneath sad eyes.

“ _ You are right, Ninat,”  _ Norm said. He straightened his shoulders. “ _ I have been...very disrespectful. Not just to you, and the memory of your brother...but to all of the people who have helped me pass through the eye of Ewya and be here today. _ ”

Ninat’s features softened slightly. She sighed, and wiped away her own tears with the four fingers of her right hand. 

“ _ You are like a baby. Something does not go the way you want, and all you do is sit and cry.”  _ The words stung Norm, but her tone lacked its’ previous edge.

“ _ Again...you’re right. I’m sorry. _ ” Norm gently insisted. “ _ Will you forgive me? Will you still help me become a hunter? _ ”

Ninat nodded, pursing her lips. 

“ _ They call me the best singer, you know. _ ”

Norm nodded.

“ _ I know. _ ”

“ _ You know? _ ” Ninat hurled the words back at him, a spark from her initial fury springing to life. “ _ They call me by what they think I am the best at. But think - if I am the best singer, than I am not the best hunter, not the best fighter. Not the most beautiful. _ ”

Norm shook his head. “ _ You don’t need to be the best at everything, Ninat. You are very good at all those things, even if you are not the best. _ ”

Ninat blinked, nodded. Her body was still taught.

_ Should I tell her?  _ Norm thought, in the fraction of the instant he knew he had.  _ Fuck it, I will. _

“ _ And you are beautiful. _ ” 

Ninat bristled a little bit at that, the way a human woman would. Norm knew that women tended to not believe a man at face value when told that she was beautiful. But he had to say it. He had to start somewhere with her.

“ _ It has been several years since I became open as a mate, _ ” Ninat replied slowly. “ _ The other females of the clan have all been chosen before me _ .”

She had distinctive features, Norm admitted to himself, but so did he. He was lanky, with a big nose and narrow chin. He hadn’t exactly been the first to be picked either, from junior school softball to... _ sigh _ ...online dating. Sometimes, he had gotten lucky. Nerdy girls, girls who had a soft spot for a soft spoken guy. But women had always been a struggle for him.

That’s why the kiss with Hayley had stunned him. Sure, they had been both a bit drunk on whatever was going around in those bowls. But, for the first time in his life, he hadn’t been the only one that was feeling desperate. What would make a women like Hayley feel desperate? Maybe it had been the fact that they were both looking for the same thing. It was the thing he looked for every time he thought about being with Trudy again.

Turns out, he and Hayley weren’t the only people who knew what it was like to be desperate. He could see that Ninat was just as desperate, and the key to her desperation lay in the same thing as his own, as Hayleys’ - loneliness.

“ _ Ninat, _ ” Norm said. “ _ Have you ever thought about choosing someone, instead of waiting to be chosen? _ ”

“ _ It does not work that way, _ ” Ninat said, voice low and measured.

“ _ Actually, I think it does _ ,” Norm pressed. “ _ If no one will choose you, you have the freedom to choose yourself. _ ”

“ _ What do you mean? _ ” Ninat’s tail flicked in a small gesture of curiosity.

Norm opened his mouth to respond, when a screech rang out behind him. Ninat cried out, and Norm wheeled around. He crouched, hissing, trying to position his body in front of her.

A flapping mass of orange and red stripes landed in front of him. The ikran stretched his wings out, and fell forwards, crouching on his wingtips. Its’ eyes shone at him, a glossy milk colour. 

_ When no one else will choose you, you have the power to choose yourself. _

“It’s okay, bud,” Norm said. He kept his body low, arms outstretched, and moved towards the blind ikran. The ikran ruffled his membranous wings, clearly anxious. 

_ He’s wondering why Eywa told him to come here,  _ Norm said. He looked over the creatures’ body. It was covered in scars. Norm wondered whether those scars had come from flying into rocks, or from the other ikran rejecting the blinded creature. 

As Norm approached, the ikran balked at the sound of his footsteps.

“ _ How did this one survive? _ ” Ninat wondered aloud. Uai’he, uncertain of what was happening, crept up the side of the rock to protect his bondmate. 

Norm stopped in front of the ikran. He put his hand out, very slowly. The ikran exhaled sharply, but Norm held his ground. 

“It’s all right,” Norm said. It was easier for him to think of reassuring things to say in his native tongue. It didn’t matter, as long as the tone was right. The ikran slowly eased his head into Norm’s palm. Norm heard Ninat gasp sharply behind him.

“ _ What is wrong? _ ” Norm asked her, not daring to look behind him.

“ _ The ikran never submits before the bond _ ,” Ninat whispered.

“ _ That’s because the ikran doesn’t choose, _ ” Norm said. He reached behind his back, bringing his queue forward. He noticed his heart beating his chest again, but this time, it was reassuring, the lively beat of a living drum inside of him.

As the ikran nosed at Norm’s hand, the pink tendrils erupted from the end of Norm’s braid. They played over the leathery surface of the creature’s face. The ikran responded by bowing his head down, allowing his antenna to fall forward within Norm’s grasp. Norm reached up, and brought the two neural whips together.

As the tendrils knit themselves together, Norm found himself overwhelmed with the explosion of colour and shape that flooded his shared mind. It was something the ikran had never experienced before. Norm closed his eyes for a moment, and feeling for the back of the ikran’s head, swung himself up onto its’ body. 

_ It’s okay.  _ Norm opened his eyes again, and this time, he felt elation instead of fear. 

“ _ Come on, Ninat, _ ” Norm laughed. He was giddy with the sensation of being both na’vi and ikran. Norm felt their wings flex, the old pain of scars melting away with the joy of finding someone to bond with, to be less alone. 

Ninat didn’t respond at first. She looked at him, in a way, for the very first time. 

“ _ Aye aye, Uai’he _ ,” she cried, and swung up onto her own mount. Together, they launched themselves off of the rock into the air.

Norm felt his hair ruffling in the wind as the world rushed around him for the second time. They banked together, weaving their way through rocks and vines. 

_ We need to go up,  _ Norm told his newfound companion. 

_ Why?  _

_ There are some people I’d like you to meet. _


	30. Chapter 29: Link

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Link

As they crested the top of the ridge, Hayley saw the chief. She was standing in the centre of a woven platform, surrounded by a semicircle of warriors holding bows loosely at their sides. The chief had the same swirling black tattoos as the rest of the mountain clan over her muscular body. Between the black marks, she had multicoloured streaks of paint covering almost every square inch of her blue skin. She looked chaotic, fierce, and formidable. Her nose was flat, ears pointed out to the sides, and eyes wide and downturned. Her hair was piled on top of her head, crowned with a spray of feathers.

She gestured for Hayley to come closer. Hayley stepped forward, Onu and the others close behind. As she got closer, Hayley could see that the patterns of dye and black tattoos looked strangely...familiar. They looked like... _graffiti._ She had seen the swirling, turning, weaving blocks of colour and black outlines plastered over the walls in downtown Portland when she was young.

“What is your name?” the chief asked.

“My name is Hayley King.”

It wasn’t the first time Hayley had heard a na’vi speak English. But how could this na’vi have learned it? This clan had no contact with humans.

“Hayley. My name is Tseotoe,” the chief introduced herself. Her voice was firm, but not unkind. She had an energy about her that Hayley couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Why did you capture us?” Hayley asked.

Tseotoe paced around Hayley, sizing her up and down.

“We did not know your intent. You killed one of the _last shadows_ that flies with us _._ ”

 _The blue toruk._ “We didn’t know he belonged to you.”

Tseotoe shook her head. “A last shadow belongs to no one. But this shadow rode with one of our best hunters and was not ready to lose him to Eywa.” She stopped her pacing, and stared Hayley down with amber eyes that glinted from underneath her ornate body paint. “We took that as a sign of war. But then, we found out that a dreamwalker was among you.”

“Yes, killing the _toruk_ was a mistake,” Hayley said, feeling awkward. _Who cares if I’m a dreamwalker?_

“I see. Well, it is done,” the chief said with finality. “And you are here.”

“What do you want from me?” Hayley said.

“ _Hailei, what is she saying?_ ” Onui’lk asked from behind her.

“I will tell you, but first you must tell your companions to promise that they will be at peace while they are here. We have forgiven you, but there will be no more fighting.”

“ _The chief has asked us to swear that we will not cause any trouble while we are here,”_ Hayley translated.

Onu nodded, and spread the word among the rest of the scouting troupe.

“You said you wanted to speak with me because I am a _dreamwalker,_ ” Hayley ventured. “Is that because you’ve learned to speak my language?”

Tseotoe nodded, feathers swaying back and forth. “We have heard the voices of your people, and have added our own. We have seen the art,” she gestured along the length of her skin, “the music...Eywa has blessed us with a portal to your world. And now you have come here, walking among your dreams, just as those dreams have come down the mountain to us.”

Hayley shook her head. “I don’t understand. What mountain are you talking about?”

“I can show you,” Tseotoe smiled. “But the others can not come.” She nodded her head. “Tell them. They can stay here - we will be preparing the evening meal soon, and they are welcome to share.”

“ _I must go alone,_ ” Hayley said, turning back again to Onu.

“ _Why is it they want you only?”_ Onu’s voice was strained. “ _Because you are a dreamwalker? But why?”_

Hayley nodded. “ _I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. You’re safe here. I’ll tell you everything, once I see it.”_

Onu nodded. “ _You’ve come far,_ ” she said at last. _“I trust you, and so do the rest of us.”_

 _I trust you._ Her friend had no idea how much that meant to Hayley.

 _Once this is all over,_ she thought to herself, _I’m going to do it. I’m going to pass through the eye of Eywa. These people should be my family._

“I’m ready,” Hayley said.

Tseotoe nodded, turned, and began walking. Hayley followed close behind.

“Tell me how it is you walk here in your dreams,” the chief asked, after they had been walking for some time. She and Hayley climbed together through another series of rocky enclaves that lead further upwards in the hovering rock cluster. Hayley was following the chief, with two guards keeping pace in the rear. _Just in case I try anything,_ Hayley figured.

“I...they grew a body for me that is both me and na’vi. Then I made tsaheylu with it and my own body.”

Tseotoe looked back to her, with a knowing smile.

“If it is part you, what is the other part?”

“What do you mean?” Hayley asked, trying to focus on the conversation while at the same time attempting to climb over rocks slick with the water falling down from above.

“Who was the na’vi that became part of you?” the chief clarified.

Hayley stopped, her fingers frozen on a nearby outcropping.

“I don’t know,” she said to herself. She knew that they had obtained na’vi DNA to engineer the avatars, but she didn’t know whose DNA it was from originally. Surely they had altered it enough that Hayley’s current form had no characteristics of the original female that had been copied. But how had they obtained the DNA in the first place?

The bodyguard behind Hayley prodded her with the blunt end of his spear, and Hayley kept climbing.

“It is just over this next ridge,” Tseotoe called from up above. Hayley scrambled her way over the rocks, her hands finding purchase on the grasses and mosses clinging to life on the rock face. On her hands and knees, she looked up.

“Oh my god.”

* * *

 

_Just where the hell am I?_

_Think, soldier. What’s the last thing you remember? Right...that blue-skinned bitch put an arrow through my chest. Two arrows! I should have known. I let that kid get his dick wet and here I am, six feet under. At least, that’s where it seems I am right now. I can’t feel my body. And - god damn it! Now I’m hearin’ voices._

_ > You are with Eywa now... _

_Aw, shit. Can’t you just put me out of my misery?_

_ > Find the one, like him, the one that tried to pass through. _

_The hell are yall talking about? Can’t you shut up for just a minute?_

_ > Well I’ll be damned. He is here. _

_G...is that you, Grace?_

_ > It is, and it isn’t. _

_Speak english, Grace. You were always givin’ me the runaround before I shot your sorry ass._

_ > Charming. It seems like you’re part of Eywa’s plan, whether you like it or not. Hmph...whether I like it, too. _

_Is that where I am?_

_ > Yes. You’re a part of this ecosystems’ neural network. Can’t imagine why Eywa would take you in, but I guess she doesn’t discriminate. _

_Aw, fuck. Wait. Maybe this could be a good thing._

_ > Look, I’m glad you’re coming around. I know we didn’t always see eye to eye on things, but a lot of what mattered back then doesn’t matter now - _

_Nah, I’m not done being me yet._

_ > Quaritch, you need to give it up. You’re not *you* anymore, you’re a part of something bigger... _

_Sure I am, sweetheart. Now I’m not the only one who wants those sonovabitches dead. I can feel them, even now. I just need a bit of time to get the hang of this disembodied brain thing._

_ > ...you idiot. You’re going to throw everything off balance...years and years of evolution. Just think for a second about what you’re doing. _

_I’ve thought about it for a long time. And so have the others in here, it seems. *They’re*  not singin’ Kumbaya with the tree spirits, they’re pissed! Just like me._

_ > We’ll stop you. _

_Good fucking luck._

* * *

 

“Honey?”

“Yea mom?”

“You should try to get some sleep.” Nella gripped the steering wheel like it was the only thing that could keep her awake. She slid her eyes off the empty road to check the time. 5:52AM. The darkness was finally starting to lift, just a tiny amount, from pitch black to grey as the sun made its’ way back up the horizon.

“I had a nightmare.”

“Oh Shelly. I’m sorry. The nightmare isn’t real, even it if makes you feel afraid.”

“But the guns were real.”

Nella gritted her teeth. The wind whistled incessantly through the passenger window, reminding both of them of their close call. _She’s too young for this. Damn it! I should have let Conrad take her when things got heated up._ She didn’t trust her husband when she had told her that the base was the safest place to be. Why had she ever thought that in the first place?

“Yes. The guns were real. Sometimes we have to be tough and go through scary things. But you did a great job. You stayed under cover and you kept quiet, just like how we practiced.”

“..but mom?”

“Mhm?”  
“What if you get shot? What’s gonna happen?”

Nella blinked. _Sometimes we have to be tough..._

“You still have the map in your pocket right?”

“Yeah. But I don’t want to go alone.”

“I’m not gonna leave you,” Nella reassured her.

“But...”

“Baby. I’m going to be with you no matter what happens. Some people are acting scary these days, but you and I are tough. We’re gonna get through this, and we’re gonna find daddy.”

“I miss Sandra.” Her best friend from school. Nella gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles drained of blood.

“I know you do baby.”

“Do you think she’s all right?”  
“I hope so. They left too, remember? Her and her dad. They went to find someplace safer to be, just like us.”

“Okay. Maybe I can find her on Facebook. Do you think Facebook will come back soon?”

“Yeah, maybe.” _Just a pinch of unobtainum to run those massive servers..._

Nella’s heart leaped into her chest when she saw the familiar sign pass by:

 

TYSON SCIENTIFIC COMPLEX

23 Miles

 

She took the exit, slowing down to weave back and forth between the odd car wreck. She heard her daughter’s breathing slow down and gain the scratchy edge of a snore. _Thank god. That girl needs some sleep. And so do you._ She couldn’t afford to fall asleep at the wheel, but they couldn’t afford to get carjacked again.

_Things were a lot easier when I had Danny around._

Conrad’s brother had been staying with them when things started taking a turn for the worse. For the first week or so of the trip, Danny had helped her and Shelly practice how to shoot their guns, took turns with the driving. Shelly never really took to the gun - she was a lot more comfortable hiding from trouble than defending herself. Nella remembered a time when she’d felt the same way. All that had changed after having her daughter. She would shoot down every last man and woman that stood between her baby and her father on this godforsaken road.

She would have almost forgiven the woman who shot Danny if it had been about that. But no, she was just another looter trying to take advantage of the collapse and steal their car. Trying to score a ride over somebody’s corpse. She should be excited that they were almost there, so close to being reunited as a family, but now she had to tell Conrad that his brother...

_At least I shot that bitch dead._

The car’s tires caught gravel, and Nella could just make out the outline of the barbed-wire fence up ahead. She gave the engine a bit more gas, and the minivan bucked as it tried to grip the loose stones. She wanted to avoid the main entrance - who knew what was going on there.

Sparsely-leaved trees and bushes crowded the gravel path, and Nella found herself squinting as she tried to make her way through the thick of the undergrowth in the morning light. She focused, slowing her breathing down, making small adjustments to the wheel when -

Something - THWUMPED - under the car. Then, another - THWUMP - and the engine stalled.

“Shit!” Nella hissed under her breath. She killed the engine, took a moment to take a few breaths, and grabbed a hold of the pistol, and opened the door. She felt something soft under her foot, and felt a wave a nausea roll over her. She slid her foot off to the side until it gripped gravel. She stared around the perimeter of the car as she pulled herself out, close the door, and locked it.

Only then she looked down at her feet. She had run over two out of hundreds of bodies littering the ground near the perimeter of the scientific base.


	31. Chapter 30: Transmission

Chapter Thirty: Transmission

“NORM!” Jake yelled as the vine snapped and Norm plummeted. Beside him, Jake heard Ninat scream and jump down after him. As Ninat fell, a black ikran fell right behind her, wings clipped in tight. He felt the arm across his chest before he’d realized that he had started to move after them.

“ _You can not,_ ” Neytiri said firmly. “ _He must face the trial without your help.”_

“What!?” Jake exclaimed. “But it’s Norm! He’s going to get hurt - “

“Ninat will help him,” Neytiri said. Her ears flattened and she pursed her lips. “ _You are the chief. You must be here for all your people, not just some._ ”

Jake wanted to say more, but he couldn’t - not here, not in front of all the new recruits. What was Neytiri talking about? Shouldn’t the captain be the first to go into battle? He would have done the same for anyone, friend or not.

“Hah!” Jake shouted, and gestured for the group to keep climbing. Neytiri game him another meaningful look, and then joined the rest in their ascent.

The rest of the ascent was a blur, as Jake kept turning over the events in his mind. What if Norm and Ninat hadn’t made it? He was their chief, their leader now. He should be setting an example for the rest to follow. There had to be some good reason for not showing the rest of them that a soldier never gets left behind.

He trusted his wife, his mate. But he couldn’t believe that he still had so much left to learn about his own people.

“ _Ileru may go first,_ ” Neytiri commanded the young ones attempting the rite of ascension. Ileru was a gangly female, with wide, pale yellow eyes like the color of butter. She wore two leather straps across her chest with intricate carvings, crossing down to join her loincloth. She had braided small fluttering feathers in her hair. The yellow V of the ascension was painted on her forehead.

“ _Yes, ye’rìn tsahik,”_ she cried bravely, baring her teeth in a smile.

“ _That one is unruly, so her mother says,”_ Neytiri murmured. She looked up at Jake. “ _You are still thinking of Norm._ ”

“ _Of course I am,”_ Jake replied. “ _Neytiri, I don’t understand what you meant back there._ ”

“ _Things are more complicated than you know, Jake,”_ Neytiri said, keeping her voice low and her eyes ahead as Ileru approached the group of flighty ikran crawling over the rock face in front of them.

“ _If they are, then I need to know._ ” Jake replied.

“ _The others hear the voices too,_ ” Neytiri said. The hint of a shudder rippled across her skin. _“And my mother has sharp ears, even after all this time. Some of the people talk to each other. They say, why is a dreamwalker the one to lead us? Jake and his friend might bring us mischief. And the voices - sometimes they say things that scare me._ ” She flattened her ears lower, not meeting his stare. “ _They scare the others, too._ ”

Jake shook his head. “ _How long has this been going on? I haven’t listened to the voices under hometree that much, but last time there were no human voices.”_

“ _They grow by the day,_ ” Neytiri said, sliding a hand across her stomach.

“ _So you’re saying if I went after Norm, the people would think that I favour the sky people instead of them._ ”

Neytiri nodded. “ _It is better if Ninat helped him, rather than you._ ”

In front of them, Ileru was gripping a bucking grey-blue ikran as she tried to the make the bond. The ikran whipped its’ head up, screeching in anger and fear. But Ileru might as well have been on the other side of the world, as far as Jake was concerned.

 _The human voices were growing stronger?_ There were rumors going around his people about him and Norm? Jake remembered when Neytiri had come to him the first time, afraid for the future. And he had dismissed her concerns - after all, he figured Eywa would take a last a few of the fallen men into her eye. But how could there be so many voices that his people were hearing them in their new hometree?

Ileru and ikran shuddered as the bond was made. This ikran didn’t plunge off the cliff at first, but instead bowed his head and shook it, as if to get rid of her mind infiltrating his. She raised a first in the air and whooped with the joy and satisfaction of becoming an ikran hunter. Neytiri was the first to return the gesture, ululating in solidarity and approval. Jake sighed, and raised his own fist.

* * *

 

“What is that?”

Roots coated in shiny, metallic veins criss-crossed over and under each other like a messy celtic knot. The knot became thinner as it soared upward, until the roots had knit themselves together into a narrow thread, pointing against the sky. Hayley realized that she was kneeling at the lip of a shallow bowl of earth surrounding the pointed structure.

“It is a tower that messages the sky people. It is known as the Portal to the Heavens,” Tseotoe said, matter-of-factly. “I am confused. Was this not the reason why you came to see us?”

Hayley felt her legs trembling a bit as she rose to her feet. “What does this do? Is it a subspace communications tower?”

Tseotoe frowned. “I believe those are the words Eywa used when she explained the purpose of this growth. It was difficult at first for us to understand, but there were members of our clan who were keenly interested in the technology of the sky people. Others, like myself, wanted to understand the meaning behind the images that came to us in our prayers.” Tseotoe stared at her vivid skin.

“I had no idea,” Hayley said breathlessly. “Li told me that he was on a mission to investigate some strange signals, but I...” when was the last time she had talked to Li? The last few times she had surfaced from her link she had stayed squirreled away in her room, stuffing down cold rations and pounding back sludgy coffee. Pouring over records of the avatar project. She had become obsessed over finding the answer to that consuming question she had been facing over the past months of becoming part of the eastern ikran clan.

In a way, she realized, her self-imposed isolation was also a way of managing her guilt. If she could go for weeks without seeing another human, could that help her to feel more like a na’vi?

“Are you alright?” Teotoe asked, looking genuinely concerned.

“Before you brought me here, in the place you kept us, I tried to link with the tree to...” Hayley stopped herself. She didn’t want to tell Tseotoe that she was trying to find a way to escape, but didn’t get the chance. She decided on trying a different approach. “Where I come from, there are fewer trees. My people do not listen to Eywa unless there is a special time or ceremony, when we go into the forest. ”

Tseotoe nodded, sage. “When you are not dreamwalking, do you live in the human village? The one made of metal and steel, called Hell’s Gate?”

_If you can call it living._

“I do,” was what she said instead.

“And do they not speak of the Portal of the Heavens?”

“I...I don’t spend a lot of time there,” Hayley concluded lamely. “I’d rather be here.”

“I see.” Tseotoe looked at Hayley with an inscrutable expression. “Do you think the other humans know?”

Hayley nodded.

“My friend told me they were looking for...strange signals.”

“Although we have seen much, there are still things that we have a more difficult time coming to understand,” the chief went on. “If you help us, you could speak with your people, back home.”

Hayley thought about what Tseotoe was proposing. _Lucas doesn’t want me involved in Pandora-Earth communications. I’ve felt like my hands were tied, ever since that conversation with Boers. What is happening back home? Is everyone all right? Is there something I can do to help save the people on Earth? Where are the voices coming from?_

“I’ll do it,” Hayley agreed. “But what about my people? The Eastern Ikran Clan?”

“They will be our honoured guests,” Tseotoe reassured her. “You understand that it is the way of the na’vi to protect ourselves from threats. The Mountain Clan are travellers, as our floating rock moves from place to place. Many people we have met have thought that we were taking over their land. We have had many toruk makto over the years, to preserve ourselves. We mark our skin to frighten others and to show that we are not afraid of the pain it takes to survive. This is who we are.”

“I understand,” Hayley agreed. “May I...listen?”

“Of course,” Tseotoe said. “Follow me.”

The chief and Hayley picked their way among the roots to the edge of the tower.

“This is where we listen, and we learn about you,” Tseoteo explained, looking at Hayley with a dark intensity that contrasted with her fiery golden eyes. Pink tendrils unfurled from her hair as she placed the end of her queue along the thinner root tendrils that protruded from the base of the tower. Hayley could swear that Tseotoe’s pupils dilated as she tensed, then quickly relaxed her shoulders and body.

Hayley felt suddenly nervous. She had connected with that tree, once, and with Dagger, but this...this was undiscovered country. She felt her braid, hair smooth and silky in her hand, the tendrils searching for the next connection. She brushed her hair against the tree, as Tseotoe had. She breathed in, trying to fill her chest with reassuring, calming air, trying to prepare herself for what was about to happen next.

The tendrils hardened their grip on the roots, and Hayley felt the prickle within her mind. The prickle soon turned into a flood, and Hayley’s brain went numb. Her vision darkened around the edges, and her heart began to jackhammer. Then, there was a dark silence....

* * *

 

Rings of light flew past them as they plunged further into the mountain. Boers could almost feel the rocks closing in on them, their weight silently threatening to crush them. If Dawson was uncomfortable, she showed no sign, looking straight ahead at nothing in the elevator.

“How have you been holding up?” Boers broke the silence.

Dawson gave him a sideways glance, keeping her face still like the surface of a pond. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...” Boers tried again. “Are you worried about the future? What’s going to happen to America? This planet?”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to them,” she replied. Still and calm, not a trace of wind. “Not to America, not to the world. Since the dawn of history, humans have been trying to anticipate the world’s end. We’re a macabre race, aren’t we? As far as I’m concerned, it’s not over until it’s over, and when it’s over, it won’t matter anymore.” She blinked. “How about you? How have you been holding up?”

“Alright I guess,” Boers reflected. “It’s been a lot of watching, waiting, down in the base. Being a leader without a plan - I’ve felt like we’ve just been stagnating for a long time.”

“There’s always something to do. Always something to try and change,” the president observed.

“Hard to tell what you can do to change the world when you’re stuck in a military base without any contact from the government.” It came out more harshly than Boers had hoped it would. He tried to rein himself in again...“I mean, we tried our best. Kept in contact with the Pandoran base. Kept trying to brainstorm alternative energy sources, record air quality and toxin measurements. Without any word from anyone else, though...I mean, we really couldn’t solve the world's problems even before everything went to hell, right?”

Dawson nodded. “Right. I know this sounds strange, Conrad, but one of the most important things I learned when I became president was to...start small. You can think of the entire world and how fucked it is - “ Conrad was caught off guard when Dawson swore, but was able to quickly regain his composure - “or you can think of one small thing you can do, and then another, and those small things build up to big change.”

“I would appreciate any suggestions on what you think those small changes might be,” Boers countered.

The elevator ground to a halt, and the doors slid open. Dawson took the lead in a narrow hallway, Boers following close behind. She stopped abruptly in front of a heavy metal door. Her hand hovered over her keycard.

“I don’t need to tell you again that what you see here will be classified information.” She glanced at him from over her shoulder.

Boers nodded crisply.

“Of course not, Madam President.”

“Hmm.” Dawson swiped the card, and the door opened. Boer heard a hiss and felt warm, humid air wash over him.

“Come on in,” she instructed, stepping over the threshold.

Boers stepped through the doorframe, only to find that he was in another small compartment. Oxygen converter masks lined one side. Dawson picked one out and slipped it on.

“What is this place?”

“Just grab a mask. You’ll see soon enough.”

Boers obliged. As he pressed the mask over his face, it sealed with a thin hiss. Dawson reached over to a terminal next to the far door. She keyed in a set of instructions, then pressed her hand up into a fingerprint-scanning app. Boers heard a lower, louder hiss as gas began to fill the room. Boers watched the gas rippling into the air through the room’s ventilation system. _We can’t be depressurizing if there’s gas being added into the room - so where are we going?_ The air began to feel muggier and heavy with heat.

“Conversion complete,” a male voice sounded out over the intercom. “You may now enter the biocomplex.”

The hiss slowed, and green indicator light went off in a corner of the room. Dawson depressed the door handle, and slid the door open.

“Welcome to Oz, Conrad,” Dawson smiled.

 


	32. Chapter 31: Humanity

Chapter Thirty One: Humanity

“Okaa-san? Oto-san?”

The signal crackled with subspace static. The yellow letters flashed in and out as if to taunt him.

INSUFFICIENT POWER TO COMPLETE CONNECTION.

INSUFFICIENT POWER TO COMPLETE CONNECTION.

Li rubbed at his eyebrows. He killed the feed, then leaned his elbows on his desk. It had been like this for the past two weeks. The last time he had talked to his mother and father, they had reassured him that everything was fine. They’d moved from Tokyo to a refuge centre in Hinoemata when the fighting and looting reached its’ peak. The cell service had been good at first, but then the lines were shut down, and his parents had waited in line to use one of a handful of computer terminals that were still running. They seemed to be in relatively good health, but Li was worried that his father’s cancer would come back, before...

...before what? Before they rebuilt civilization? 

He had wanted to tell them that last time they spoke - every time since the battle - that he was sorry for abandoning them to come here. That he was sorry for dropping out of college, for running away to America, living in hostels and trying to get by on minimum wage service jobs while picking up more street English to supplement his half-baked efforts back in Tokyo.

They had forgiven him, but not before it was too late and he had signed his life away to the army for a ten-year rotation. 

Li would serve out his time, send his money back home to help pay for his father’s cancer treatments and to keep his mother’s business running. When he was finished, he would catch the next flight home, find a girl, start a family, and make something of himself. 

Pandora had been a bit of a hitch in that plan. The travel time meant that his army career would extend for another four years. But the pay...Li couldn’t say no. And part of him, even back then, was worried about whether or not his plan would actually work. Whether he could actually make a life for himself outside of a world where he knew exactly when to eat, when to sleep, when to move every day of every week. He rebelled against every structure he’d been in, and yet, without it...he’d become lost. 

It was enough to make him feel like a failure. That was why, when he’d seen the video footage of the rockets slamming into the hometree of the Omaticayans, he’d thought  _ sure, why not rebel one last time. Why not try and be the good guy, for once. _

That decision to save the na’vi had cost him his ticket back home to his family. They didn’t let him back on the  _ Venture Star _ , not after his mutiny. The RDA would have let him rot in jail as soon as hit feet touched the soil of his home planet. 

The ironic part of all of this was that his parents were finally proud of him. He could barely make out their smiling faces as he blinked the tears away, on that first call home after the war.  _ Siyu-kun _ , they said.  _ You have found a purpose in your life.  _

_ I should have figured that out a long time ago, _ he wanted to say back to them, but instead, he nodded and steered the conversation onto a safer topic.

The worry sat in his mouth like acid. Where they still alive? What if - 

The door alarm to his quarters chimed.

“Come in.” Li tried his best to compose himself before whoever was at the door came in. The door slid open and Jess Dupries, Dr. Lucas’ research assistant, walked in. Li quickly realized that he had nothing to worry about when it came to his own composure.

“Jess, what’s wrong?” Her eyes were red, and she hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears from her face. She collapsed into a chair, holding her trembling hands together.

“Li...have you heard about Max?”

“Max?” Li racked his brain for a minute. “Max Patel? The avatar scientist? What’s wrong?”

Jess blinked away more tears, and her face strained as she tried to contain a wave of what looked like distress to Li. 

“I found him in his quarters. I was delivering results from one of Dr. Lucas’ projects. We were - well anyway, I found him. He...” she breathed hard. “He was hanging from an overhead pipe.”

“ _ Jesus _ ,” Li breathed hard. “What the fuck...Jess, are you okay?”

Her face contorted, and she shook her head slowly. Li didn’t know what to do, so he held her as she sobbed quietly into his shoulder.

_ What the fuck.  _ Max was the last person Li could think of on the base who would have killed himself. He hadn’t been letting on any signs, as far as Li could tell. The few times they had brushed elbows in the cafeteria or in the nearby hallways, he was always smiling or joking around with his colleagues. 

And of course, of all the people, it had been Jess that found his body.  _ Jesus Christ.  _ Jess was a sweet girl. They had had a fling, back when she had first landed in Hell’s Gate. Li quickly realized that she wasn’t the kind of girl that one-night stands were enough for, and she had realized the opposite about him. And so they had parted ways, with Li wondering from time to time whether he had made the right choice or not. But this wasn’t the best time to think about that particular misstep in his life.

Li held Jess’ shoulders and looked her in the face. “Have you told anyone else about this?”

She nodded, wiping her face on her sleeve. “No...I didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe you could...help somehow.”

“Of course I’ll help!” Li exclaimed. “Look, why don’t we go and talk to Lucas together.”

Jess nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Li asked incredulously. “You did the right thing coming to see me. I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

Jess nodded again. 

“Do you want to talk to Lucas now, or do you need a minute?”

Jess shook her head. “Let’s just get it done. I can’t stand the thought of him being there...Max..”

Li drew her in for a hug as a new wave of sadness broke over Jess.

“What if this is just the beginning?” Jess choked. 

“What do you mean?” Li asked. He held her close. 

“There’s no future for us here...you know that.” 

“None of us know that, Jess.” Li said.  _ I’m going to regret saying this, but fuck it... _ ”Eywa knows we’re here. She saved us. She didn’t kill those of us who protected her.”

Jess looked up at him. “Ewya is different now.”

* * *

 

The bonfire in the centre of the new hometree roared high. Norm sat beside it, feeling the sweat drip off him in the heat. Ninat drew swirling white patterns over his skin.

“ _ Thanks for this, _ ” Norm said. She had been so quiet, ever since they had been in the floating mountains together. He had mounted his docile ikran, and they had flown together as one. Norm traced his way through the alien mind of a creature who had very different desires, fears, and ways of knowing. He had named his ikran Veeger, with a slight twinge of sadness when he realized that he was probably the only person on the planet who would understand the reference.

_ Okay, Hayley might have watched that movie too. I’m not sure if she was ever into the classics, though. _

Ninat had flown beside him. She had even given him a small smile, at the time. Since then, he had barely seen any signs of her around hometree. Then, Mo’at had found him and told him it was time for the Dream Hunt, and that Ninat would be there to guide him in Neytiri’s place.

_ Why wasn’t Neytiri the one guiding me? She’s the next spiritual leader.  _ Maybe it was against the na’vi code to perform spiritual duties while pregnant...but Norm eventually realized that he was just speculating, and that the speculating was causing anxiety he didn’t need right now.

_ Right now _ , he needed to hope that Eywa wasn’t going to change her mind about letting him through her Eye. 

One person Norm had seen a lot of lately was Jake. Other than the odd hunt or two, Jake had been spending a lot of time with Norm. Sometimes it seemed like Jake was taking Norm under his wing even more than usual - giving him tips on how to fish, helping him and the rest of the builders continue carving out space in their home. Maybe Jake was trying to make up for neglecting Norm a bit, back when things were new and Jake was adjusting to his position in the clan.

Norm heard the pounding of a drum, slow and steady, from further down in the tree.

“ _ It is beginning, _ ” Ninat commented as she put the final finishing touches on Norm’s body.

“ _ Thank you _ ,” Norm said. “ _ For helping me today. And the day before, on the mountain. _ ”

Ninat just stared at him with her pale eyes. 

“ _ Have you been ignoring me? _ ” Norm asked.

The tip of Ninat’s tail whipped behind her. To her credit, Ninat did not look away.

“ _ I was told it was best if we kept our distance until your ceremony. _ ”

“ _ What? Why? _ ” Norm was incredulous.

Ninat shook her head. “ _ It does not matter now. _ ” She held his forearm. Her skin was soft, and slightly warm to the touch. “ _ Focus on your task. _ ”

Norm stood up. It was clear that he wasn’t going to get anywhere else for now. And Ninat was right - he really needed to focus. Otherwise he might pass out before the drug even hit his system.

“ _ Take the bark. _ ” Ninat said, extending a gnarled package wrapped in leaves and tied with  _ yerik _ gut.

As Norm and Ninat descended the spiralling tree roots that lead them down to the chamber below, the drum beat grew closer. It boomed all around him, making it difficult to know exactly where the sound was coming from. Norm smelled the pungent, sticky sap that still bled from the newly-guided roots of their growing hometree. It filled his head in its’ own, intoxicating way. Norm was almost overwhelmed enough to forget that Ninat was still guiding him, holding his forearm in her four-fingered hand. 

He looked over to her as they reached the bottom of the ramp, and saw that her tiny nodes of bioluminescence were beginning to flare up through her skin. He looked down at his arm to see himself doing the same. For a brief moment, it was just the two of them again, floating in the clouds, against the rest of the world. 

Then Norm stepped into the circle where the others were sitting, Jake included, cross-legged on the floor. Their queues were embedded in the floor, and as they swayed slightly in unison, hometree pulsed a soft green in waves towards the centre. Ninat joined the circle, sighing softly as she linked in with the rest.

_ “Sit. _ ” Mo’at commanded.

Norm did, letting his knees sink into the soft earth below him. Mo’at took a length of dried sweet grasses, and dipped them into the fire beside her. Stepping through the circle of hunters, Mo’at blew the smoke at Norm. Norm wafted the smoke around him gently with his hands, as he had been taught by Ninat. His heart leaped, a faster tempo than the plodding drum that beat in some dark corner of the room.

Mo’at extended her hand. Norm handed her the package. She carefully unwrapped it, unfolding each leaf like a flower petal. A white worm crawled out of the bark that lied within, glowing a faint purple-blue. 

“ _ Oh wise worm, _ ” Mo’at invoked,  _ “eater of the Sacred Tree...bless this worthy hunter with a true vision. _ ” 

With that, she held the glow worm out to Norm. It writhed in front of him, held between her thumb and index finger. Norm opened his mouth, and Mo’at placed the glow worm within it. Norm fought it down with a swallow, feeling the cold, soft skin of the worm wrapped around its’ jelly-like body move down his throat. He fought the urge to shudder, hard. 

It was then that Jake rose up from the circle, and Norm could see that he was holding a scorpion-like insectoid in one hand. Norm could tell that Jake was a bit nervous - maybe he had done this before, but not with a friend. If that’s what they were.

The scorpion danced around Jake’s arm. He extended his arm out to Norm.

“Just take it easy, soldier,” Jake whispered, at Norm felt two hot sharp shots of pain down his shoulder. He hissed, trying his best not to cry out. He was sure that a true hunter had to stay silent through this process.

But the stinging didn’t stop. If anything, it began to intensify. The pain sent ribbons of acidic pain shooting from his shoulder into his arm, and down the length of his back Norm tried to breathe through it, but the pain of it caught his breath in his throat. He forced it out again.

The process of bearing the pain distracted him from the effects of the dual poisons working their way through his system at first. When he looked up to try to see where Ninat was, all he could see were golden eyes floating in a sea of blue, blue everywhere.

“I’m...”

Norm looked down at his hands. He could see every nerve ending, every pathway, glowing gold against the soft blue ocean. As he flexed and moved his arms, flecks of lavender shot though, soft nerve impulses guiding his muscles to move at his command. For a moment, he was vaguely aware of the cherry red pain that was crawling through his system, which then transformed into a soft pink light that swirled around him.

Norm sighed, then closed his eyes and surrendered to the pink haze as he felt his body being lifted into...


	33. Chapter 32: v82 By a Thread

Chapter Thirty Two: v82 By a Thread

VLOG ENTRY: 82

Location: PQHKING, 2153

Researcher: King, H. ID# 026 ADC 018

P.I: Lucas, M. ID# 004 GNA 045

LST: 5:13:57

Date: 01/28/2154

TRANSCRIPT

Well...what do I say. 

I just woke up on the floor of the link unit, about half an hour ago. I think was the screaming and shouting that finally knocked me out of my post-emergency delinking stupor.

I guess I’ll talk about the latter before I get to the former. When I went into the link at the portal, it was pretty incredible - unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I know that’s cliche, but I am having a hard time explaining. It was like...I keep going back to those exercises with Grace out in the compound. When I interfaced with the tree, it was like I was seeing the world with dozens of eyes, all at once. But the people in the link at the portal don’t have eyes, or bodies. So I felt their minds. Hundreds of minds moving in and out of that tangle of organic wiring. Americans, indonesians, russians - most of them amateur computer programmers and engineers who have found a way to get their hands on enough old tech to make their own makeshift link units and superluminal communications. That, and their families. There were a lot of sick people in that link. Mothers who were in their fourth stage of cancer. Fathers with debilitating asthma. It wasn’t their first choice, coming here. But when they arrived through the portal, they told me, they felt at peace with Eywa. 

Just before I delinked, I felt a huge surge in energy - a new superluminal communication. I think that it might have knocked out the signal from my avatar to my human form. The portal is dangerous for me, I guess. I didn’t have a problem being on the mountain, so I guess it only really messed with me when I was directly linked in. 

Next thing I knew, I was on the floor. I don’t remember getting there, but there were a lot of people running past me. What could have been so important that no one noticed one of their staff lying on the floor? *laughs* Then Li’s face was hovering over me. He asked me if I was all right.

“Yes,” I said. “What the hell is going on?” Maybe I was still a bit groggy from the emergency delink, but I wasn’t focused on that at the moment.

He asked me if I was okay, and I said I was fine. It was a bit of a lie, but I wasn’t in the mood to get into it. 

Anyway, Li got me up on my feet and told me the news. Max Patel. Shit. Li says that Max was working on some side Avatar project, but it was classified. He thinks that something went wrong in the project and Max decided that it was time to get out. Or that there was no out. 

Well...the project was classified, but I guess someone had forgotten to restrict my access to the Avatar project files. Technically there would be no reason for them to be classified for me, anyway - soldiers and other staff would be another story. But I know that my little...outburst that one time caused a bunch of Earth files to mysteriously disappear from my desktop. 

I opened the last vlog Max had made about the project. 

When someone kills themselves, everyone around them tries to look back and say, well, something about what happened. There are people who will try to say that a person had looked miserable for weeks, while someone will say that they looked happier. It’s all bullshit. It’s people trying to read patterns where there weren’t any. 

I tried to remember that when I watched Max on the vlog. I tried to remember the point when he began to withdraw from us, stopped going to the gym or hanging around in the mess hall. 

He hadn’t known what was coming for long, but when he put the pieces together, he realized that it would be better to end things now than to stick around for what the end was going to look like.

I have to make some decisions sooner than later now. Lucas, if you’re reviewing this...we need to talk. 

Hayley out.

END OF VLOG LST: 23:11:56:12


	34. Chapter 33: The Cross, Part I

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Cross, part I

_ All right. Think for a minute. _

_ I saw these people on the video screen. First they were protesting, and then they were begging to be let in. They had nowhere to go. Maybe their homes had been destroyed, maybe the cancer ravaging their bodies was incurable. Conrad didn’t let in any of them. He had his orders. And now... _

Some of the bodies looked as if they had starved to death. Others might have died of natural causes. 

“Shit,” Nella sighed as she shook her head. Her eyes stung, but she gulped the tears down and willed herself to focus again on the task at hand - getting her daughter to a safe place.

_ If Conrad didn’t let them in, how are we going to get in? _

As Nella looked around at the sparse, dying forest surrounding the compound, she caught the smell of a campfire in the air. Looking through the leaves, she could see the telltale wisps of smoke, off to their left. 

She looked back in the car. Shelly was still sleeping.  _ When was the last time she had a full night’s sleep?  _ As much as Nella wanted to leave her alone in the car, she knew better by now.

“Honey. Wake up.”

Shelly’s face was broken with a slight frown as she twisted and turned. She blearily opened her eyes.

“Mom?”

“We can’t drive any further.”

“Mom, why do you have the gun out?”

It had been in her hand for so long all these days that Nella was starting to feel like it was a part of her. She hadn’t even noticed. She holstered the weapon.

“Sorry. I was just having a look around. We’re at daddy’s work now.”

Shelly brightened just a bit at that. “Are we going to see daddy soon?”

Nella nodded. “I think so, baby. But we have to find a way to get in first. The gate is too high. There were other people - “ she paused, then regained her focus, “- other people tried to get in before us and couldn’t make it.”

“What are we going to do?”

Nella smiled, in spite of herself. “First thing we’re going to try is knocking.”

Nella packed bags for the two of them with emergency supplies. She told Shelly to walk over the bodies, and not to look at their faces. There was no point - what was done was done, and better to not have the eyes of the dead haunting her daughter’s dreams.

The two of them made their way over to the overgrown entrance of the compound. Nella prayed under her breath.  _ Please God, let them be alive, and please, don’t let them shoot me on sight if I get us inside.  _

The viewscreen on the side of the door was cracked badly, silent and dark. The one thing that raised Nella’s hopes was a small, flickering red light underneath, which meant that the mechanism likely still worked. 

There was a noise from far off in the distance that could have been a peal of laughter or a revving motor, and the woman and child flinched. Recovering herself, Nella punched in a set of numbers with a shaking hand. The light flickered, dimmed, then a second, yellow light appeared.

“Thank God,” Nella said, voice trembling even more than her hands.

There was a deep whirring noise, and then the screeching of rusted and underused metal. The door slowly slid open.

“Come on baby,” Nella encouraged Shelly. Shelly gripped her mother’s hand as they slipped through the door. After a pause, it shut slowly behind them.

They were in the compound. The area around the concrete fence was littered with debris, most likely from the protesters hurling god knows what over the wall. Nella picked her way through the debris, and Shelly followed.

“Daddy works in that building over there,” Nella gestured to the main bunker. There would be another set of doors to navigate there.

“Mommy?”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t daddy let those people in?”

The question blindsided Nella, and she chose her words carefully.

“Baby...sometimes hard times make good people do bad things. The people on the other side of the wall wanted to get in and hurt daddy. They were mad at him, because of his work. But daddy was just trying to do his best to help everybody.”

It wasn’t the first, nor was it going to be the last time Nella gave an evasive answer to Shelly. But she was still so young, and even though Nella knew it was important to teach her certain things, like how to hold and shoot a gun or tell how to hide her tracks when running away, something about the moral complexities of the human condition were somehow even harder to teach her. 

“What was the thing that daddy did that made everybody mad?”

_ I’ve gone and opened a can of worms, haven’t I...  _

“Remember how daddy is a scientist and works for the army?”

“Mhm.”

“Well...the army went to another planet to bring back unobtanium. Do you remember what that is?” It was easier for Nella to ease into the familiar patterns of reviewing schoolwork when navigating a topic like planetary destruction. 

“It’s the metal that makes things work.”

“Yes. But the army couldn’t get the unobtanium, and then everyone on the planet got scared. The power went out too in some places, remember? Daddy was part of the group that was in charge of getting the unobtanium.”

“Why couldn’t the army get the unobtanium?”

“Because...because there were people already living on the planet with it, and they didn’t want us to have it.”

“That’s not fair,” Shelly said pointedly. “If they knew it could help us, why didn’t they share?”

“I don’t know, hon.”

Nella focused her attention on the next computer console in front of her. It was the one attached to the main complex. She keyed in the same code that she used for the main set of doors. 

After an agonizing few seconds, this viewscreen finally crackled to life. It was a man that Nella didn’t recognize. He appeared to be in his mid thirties, dark skin wrinkled with exhaustion.

“Who are you?” He seemed surprised, caught-off guard. He should have been asking for her authorization.

Nella wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to crumple up into a ball on the hot concrete.  _ They were safe, finally.  _ But she couldn’t do any of those things yet. She needed to get her daughter inside the bunker, and find Conrad. 

“I’m Nella Boers, civilian, with Michelle Boers.”

Instantly, the man’s face lit up. “Holy shit, you’re the commander’s wife.”

“Yes,” Nella said, voice rushed, “Where’s-”

Without waiting for Nella to respond, the viewscreen flicked off, the door to the base opened up, and she and Shelly were hit with the smell of ozone. 

“Come on Shelly, let’s go.” Nella took her daughter’s hand in hers and went to go through the entrance. Shelly hesitated.

“Mommy, what about the people with the fire?”

_ So close.  _

“Hon, we need to figure out where daddy is right now. And those people might be bad guys. So we need to get somewhere safe and then we can talk about the people by the fire, ok?”

Shelly nodded.

Nella lead them through a dimly-lit hallway. It was eerily quiet, and the air was warm and stuffy. Their footsteps echoes as Nella tried to remember which was it was to the elevators.

“We brought you here once, when you were very little,” Nella said. The memory filled her with an unexpected warmth. “You probably don’t remember.”

“It looks sort of familiar here,” Shelly said. “Mom, I’m really tired.”

“I know, I’m sorry I woke you up. We really needed to get inside and to see daddy. You’ll be able to sleep again soon.”  
Nella heard a quiet ding from somewhere further down the maze of hallways. _What were they all for?_ There were doors that they passed, with windows that only showed darkness. Supply garages? Classrooms? Bunks? Laboratories? She had seen some of them before, back when she had done the base tour with Conrad. He’d taken her along when he had received news of his appointment there. It had been great news for the family, being placed in such a safe location. Even back then, there had been the stirrings of conflict. People who couldn’t afford to switch to unobtanium power were losing solar and wind energy to changes in the Earth’s climate. There were rebellions and protests globally. Pandora was supposed to be the solution for Earth, and that piece of optimism has prevented all-out war back then.

“Nella Boers?”

The man at the viewscreen rounded the corner. Nella froze.

“It’s okay,” the man reassured. “My name is Zion. Zion Isaac. I run communications. I think we met once before.”

“Yes,” Nella breathed out, “I think we’ve met too. Sorry I didn’t recognize you.”

Zion clasped her hand in his, and shook it gently but firmly. “I can’t imagine what the two of you have been through over the past months. No offense taken at all.”

“Where’s Conrad?” She couldn’t help but blurt it out. She was tired, she was hungry, and she was running out of patience. She had come this far to see Conrad, and she didn’t want to wait anymore.

Zion’s face fell, almost imperceptibly. 

“I’m sorry ma’am, but Conrad left a couple days ago for Washington to speak with the president.”

“Oh my god,” Nella exclaimed, “The president’s still alive!?”  _ And thank god, Conrad is too. _

“She is,” Zion confirmed. “Administration’s in some secret bunker up there. I’m not sure when he’s getting back.”

“Can you patch a link through so that Shelly and I can talk to him?”

Zion nodded. “I think I can manage that.”

Nella nodded. It wasn’t exactly the family reunion she had been hoping for, but Conrad was all right, and they were safe for now. 

“Why don’t we go downstairs,” Zion suggested.

Nella nodded, and Zion walked down the hallway the way he came.

“But mom...” Shelly was tugging on Nella’s shirt.

“Honey, is this about the people and the campfire we saw?”

“If they’re good guys, we should help them too.”

Nella shook her head.

“Zion?”

Zion stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned his head.

“Are you aware that there are civilians outside of the base that are still alive?”

“You should help them,” Shelly insisted, louder this time. 

“We haven’t been monitoring the surveillance cameras closely,” Zion began slowly. “We haven’t had clearance for non-authorized individuals to enter the base since the upheavals.”

“And who would be able to give you clearance?” Nella asked.

“The president could do it, but only commander Boers has gotten clearance to speak with her.”

Nella knelt down and looked her daughter in the eye. “Hon, let’s go downstairs and talk to daddy, and he can ask the president for permission to let those people in, ok?”

Shelly nodded. Nella got back on her feet. The three of them walked the remaining distance to the service elevator. Zion swiped a passcard and the doors swished open with a small whoosh.

Nella was the first to break the silence as they plunged down into the lower levels of the complex. She opened her jaw up and popped her ears, equalizing the pressure in her head.

“How has it been here?”

“I’m not going to lie, ma’am-”

“Call me Nella. I don’t have a rank, and I wouldn’t want you to call me ma’am, even if I did.” The corner of her mouth twitched. “I’m not that old, Zion.”

“Sorry...Nella. I’m used to formalities on the base.” Zion smiled apologetically. 

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out. 

“It’s a bit damp down here,” Nella observed.

“Sorry about the air,” Zion said. “The air conditioning system has been working overtime ever since the temperature began to rise up on the surface. It’s still within acceptable levels, but we don’t want to drain all our power enhancing it.”

“Power?” Shelly wondered. “How are you doing for supplies?”

“We’re all right, but we don’t have a ton. We need to be careful about rationing.” Zion put extra emphasis on this word. Nella took that to mean  _ we can’t afford to have refugees living down here.  _ Shelly wouldn’t be happy. But why was Shelly so hell bent on helping the campers, anyway?

Zion led them to a small room with three cots. “No one is using this room, there’s a shower around the corner. Why don’t you get settled in, and let me know when you’re ready.”

Nella realized that she was seeing herself through Zion’s eyes. They hadn’t showered in weeks. They’d been wearing two, maybe three sets of clothes since they left home, and had to wash them in the river. 

“Can I talk to my dad?” Shelly asked.

“Hon, let’s clean up first. Thank you,” Nella addressed Zion. 

Zion nodded. “I’ll just be down the hall in my quarters, on the left.”

“Mom, they have books here,” Shelly said. She held a copy of  _ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban  _ in her hand. 

_ Back then, they could have stopped this. _

“That’s great, Shelly. Why don’t you read for a bit while I shower?”

Shelly nodded. “Okay. I wonder if they have stuff for me to draw with here?”

“Probably,” Nella said, stepping into the bathroom. It was utilitarian, with a small stand-up shower in one corner and a chrome toilet in the other. She removed her earrings and peeled the clothes off her body, noticing how dirty they really were. There were rust-coloured stains on her shirt that she would have preferred to have washed away, but they just wouldn’t lift without soap.

Soap. Nella turned on the water, and stepped in. As she washed herself, she tried to think about what the next few days, weeks, months would look like. But her mind was a frustrating blank.

_ I’ve been in survival mode for so long.  _ Nella realized that it would take a long time to unravel all of the tightly bound strings in her mind. It was like a ball of yarn, tight and convoluted. 

She had no idea where her mother, her father, her sister was. Conrad’s brother was dead. The earth was heating up, getting more polluted by the minute. No wonder she was numb. If she thought about the world Shelly was growing up in...

Nella dried herself off and wrapped the towel around her chest. She poked her head around the doorframe. Shelly was sitting on the edge, reading while she swung her legs back and forth. Nella slipped into the bedroom. She opened a dresser to find a set of army fatigues. She slipped the smallest shirt on, and belted a loose pair of camo pants around her waist. 

“Hon, go shower.”

Shelly looked up from her book.

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Just go. You’re dirty. Get showered and then we can talk to daddy, okay?”

Shelly frowned, but she put the book on the bedspread and went to shower.

There was a square mirror on the wall above the dressed. Nella stared at herself. It had been months since she looked at herself in the mirror. A hard pair of brown eyes stared back at her, her face clean but somehow crossed with more lines than there had been a few months ago. 

_ I got her here. She’s safe. But how long do I have left? _

 


	35. Chapter 34: Hallelujah, Finale

Chapter Thirty-Four: Hallelujah Finale

“You’re not sticking around for the ceremony?”

Hayley stopped in the doorway of the avatar driving room. She took her attention for a moment off of the driver beds, glowing an enticing soft green. She looked back into the hallway and saw Li’s worried face.

“I..I can’t.” The words caught in her throat. “My avatar is going to need food and to move around soon. I don’t want to damage it.”

Li drew his lips into a hard line. “Are you sure you can’t spare a few minutes? It’s important for everyone to be together right now.”

“Did Lucas ask you to do this?”

It was a lame response, and Hayley could see that Li reacted instantly to it.

“No,” he said, his voice gaining a hard edge. “I think you should come.” 

He came closer. Hayley felt like she was rooted to the floor. He put his hands on her shoulders. Hayley could smell the coffee on his breath.

“Don’t run away from this, if that’s what you’re doing.”

Hayley stared right back at him.

“Li...did Jake run away from all of this?”

Li blinked. “I ran away from earth to be here, Hayley. I left some people behind that I really cared about. But I care about these people. I care about Max. I care about you.” He squeezed her shoulders gently. 

“What are you trying to say?” Hayley kept her tone soft. 

“People are scared,” Li shook his head. “They don’t know what’s going to happen to them. They don’t have avatars, and they don’t have Max to help them anymore.”

“There are other people on staff that know how to grow avatars,” Hayley replied. “There’s also specialists on Earth that we can liaise with.”

Li sighed. “Look, if you need to go, go. But I know you and Lucas are hiding something. Please, for my sake, tell me.”

_ So, it was that obvious. _

“Li...I don’t think this is a good time to talk about it.”

Li dropped his hands from her shoulders, as if unfrozen. “What is it? Just tell me.”

Hayley shook her head. “You can’t tell the others. I’m telling you. It would make things worse.”

Li nodded slightly. “Please, Hayley.”

Hayley rubbed her eyes. “I had a meeting with Lucas while I was recovering from the emergency delink. He needs me to go back as soon as possible so ask the Eastern Ikran Clan for unobtanium.”

Li frowned, then realization dawned on him, and his eyes widened.

“How long do we have without additional unobtanium?”

“...I reviewed Max’s vlog. According to his calculation, two months.”

“Christ,” Li said. “Is that why...”

Hayley felt tears welling up behind her eyes, despite herself. “Yes, Li. I’m so sorry. That’s why I need to go back.”

“I’m never going to see them again.”

“What?” Hayley asked him. 

“I thought maybe I had a chance...get a shuttle back, or maybe the  _ Venture Star _ in five more years...” Li’s gaze dropped to the floor.

“You mean go back to earth,” Hayley said.

“I...and that’s why Max did it. He did it to give us more time.”

“I don’t know, Li...I’ve said too much.”

Li stared at her, his mouth working. “No, I want to hear all of it.”

Hayley looked to the left and right, to make sure no one was near.

“Yes and no. He realized that two months isn’t enough time to grow avatars for everyone. Not enough time for the  _ Venture Star  _ to come back, if it even could. But he was also struggling with some stuff, Li. It’s been really hard up here, but there’s hope if we can ask the na’vi for just a bit of unobtanium.”

“And how long is that going to last?” Li said, voice choked.

“Long enough for us to figure out how to get out of this situation,” Hayley said, voice firm. “Tell everyone I send my condolences. Tell them not to give up hope. Please.”

She drew Li into a hug.  _ He’s so tense... _ but bit by bit, Hayley felt him easing into her embrace.

“My mom and dad could be dead,” he whispered. “What am I hoping for?”

“That they’re not,” Hayley replied. “That they can come here, through the portal in the mountains.”

After a moment or two more, Li and Hayley stepped away from each other.

“Don’t run away,” Li said one more time. “Come back and help us.”  
  


* * *

 

 

She opened her eyes to a sea of deep blue and glittering stars, obscured by a netlike canopy of woven reeds. Hayley blinked, then stretched and wiggled her fingers and toes.  _ Everything seems to be still working...good. _ She slowly rolled her body over and rose to her feet.

To her surprise, there was no one in sight. They had placed her body on the carpeted floor of a woven canopy of some sort. It sat, nestled in the rock face. Hayley let her eyes wander over the woven tapestries under her legs, to see that someone had left her a handful of dried jerky. She chewed on it slowly, feeling hunger quickly ignite inside of her.

Other than a dehydration headache, she seemed fine. Hayley scrambled to her feet, and made her way out of the canopy. She followed a set of steps carved into the rock of the mountain. The canopy was an offshoot of the main passageway through the mountains that she had climbed earlier with Tseotoe. As she descended, she could hear voices swelling in laughter. She emerged into a clearing with more huts, where a group of mountain dwellers were sitting around a fire. 

“You are up late,” one of them called out to her.

“Have you seen any members of my clan?” Hayley addressed the circle.

“The one that was by your side, Onui’lk,” the same na’vi replied. “She gave us a message. She has flown to the surface to visit one of the sacred sites below.”

“Which sacred site?”

“ _ The grove of ghosts _ ,” was the reply.

_ The grove of ghosts?  _ Hayley had never heard of that place. “How can I find it?” she asked.

“Look for the seeds from the tree of souls. They gather there.”

“Thank you,” Hayley said. She climbed up onto a nearby rock, and whistled for Dagger. After a few moments, he flew up from the side of the mountain like a bullet, snapping his wings open with a leathery  _ fumph _ as he glided down to her. 

Hayley swung on and linked, and the two of them plunged from the cliff. Dagger hugged the rock face, for no reason other than the pleasure and the thrill of being reunited with his rider.

    * _You think friends will die,_ Dagger thought to her.



 

  * __I don’t know. Sorry for thinking about it.__


  * _Good to think of protecting friends. Friends protect you when one is not enough to defend. No friends, die._


  * _Looking for the ghost grove. Many seeds from the tree._


  * _There._



 

Hayley/Dagger saw the soft white glow between the trees. They plunged through the dark upper layers of the canopy. Their wings twisted, furled and unfurled, until they had cleared the foliage and were in the clearing. 

Hayley/Dagger alighted on a nearby rock.

 

  * __I want to hunt.__



 

Hayley smiled.

 

  * __Go on. I’ll whistle when I need you.__



 

Dagger launched into the air. 

Hayley made her way down a protruding root. It was covered in soft blue bioluminescence that flared with each of her bare footsteps. Part of her was still getting used to the idea of going barefoot. _ No glass bottles smashed in paradise.  _ The seeds of the tree of life oscillated like spidery jellyfish all around her. They swirled around in a circle around the clearing. A small waterfall churned and burbled, water cascading down wet rocks and winding into a river that snaked through a variety of colourful, glowing plants.

In the centre of the clearing, sitting cross-legged and plugged into the network of roots around her, was Onu. She was swaying gently, chanting to herself. Her skin was lit up in the colours of the plants around her - deep orange, neon purple, electric green. Deep within, the small stars of Onu’s own glowing body shone through. 

“Onu.”

Onu slowly opened her eyes. She smiled.

“Hailei.”

Hayley sat down in front of her.

“ _ What is this place? Why is it called the grove of ghosts?” _

Onu chuckled softly. “ _ I have not been here in a long time. It is a place one can go to speak with family and friends from the past.” _

“ _ But I thought that was what the tree of souls was for.” _

Onu shook her head, beads clicking.  _ “The tree of souls is for souls to pass through on their way to somewhere else. The only one you can speak to there is Eywa herself. _ ”

“ _ I spoke to  _ Grace _ there.” _

_ “You did not. Greis is a part of Eywa now. _ ”

Hayley struggled to piece it together.  _ “So...there are those who become a part of Ewya, and some who live within her but are not a part of her? _ ”

Onu closed her eyes.  _ “There are many mysteries about our world that your people have not learned about yet. _ ” Onu’s gave her queue a quick tug, and the tendrils released. She opened her eyes.

_ My people, _ Hayley thought.  _ “Who were you speaking to?” _

_ “My mother. I was telling her about you, and our adventures. She is happy for me, and she is happy for the humans that have come here to our planet.” _

Hayley smiled. “ _ I would like to meet her some day.” _

“ _ You may speak with her now, if you like.”  _ Onu gestured towards the weave of roots.

“ _ Thank you, but...Onu...there is something I need to tell you. I am ready to pass through the eye of Eywa.” _

“ _ Hailei...what has happened for you to make that choice now?” _

Hayley felt herself beginning to quiver. “ _ I have learned that sometimes...making a choice is making no choice, and that making no choice is making a choice.” _

At that, Onu’s grin spread wide. “ _ You are talking in riddles...I like that. _ ”

Hayley shook her head.  _ “What I mean is that...if I wait much longer, time will choose for me. I have two clans right now. The human, and the Eastern Ikran. My human clan is asking me to do something that will hurt my other clan. They are asking me to come to you and get the silverstone. _ ”

“ _ The humans want the silverstone because it keeps them alive, _ ” Onu said. “ _ Are they dying? _ ”

Hayley nodded.  _ “They are not dying right now. But they will be soon, without it. But taking the silverstone will mean killing part of mother Eywa.”  _ She could feel her eyes stinging, but willed herself not to break down. Not again.  _ “Humans are ghosts. They walk on the  _ Earth _ and on  _ Pandora _ , but they are dead. They are fighting for life, but there is no way to survive. _ ”

“ _ The humans should dreamwalk with us.” _

_ “No...not every human has a dreamwalking body.” _

_ “So it is the choice between joining Eywa or burning the silverstone.”  _ Onu contemplated.  _ “What is happening back on  _ Earth _? _ ”

_ “I don’t know. I think that something similar is happening. Many humans, especially those that are old and sick, are joining Eywa through the sky portal. Gr...Eywa wanted to help before by sowing her seeds on earth, but I think she realized through talking to the humans on  _ Earth _ that this would not be possible.” _

Onu put a hand over hers. 

_ “I am sad for your people, Hayley. _ ”

_ “Me too,”  _ was all that Hayley could think to say.

_ “So you are ready, then, to leave your ghost life. _ ” 

They were silent for a while after that, the cries and hoots of animals echoing around them as they sat together in the glade.

“ _ There is something else I wanted to talk to you about, _ ” Hayley began. She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the ridges of the thick braids Onu had put in a few weeks ago.

_ “I feel it too.”  _ Onu replied.

“ _ Feel what? _ ” Hayley replied reflexively.

Onu squeezed the hand she had in hers. With her other hand, she reached up and cupped Hayley’s face, then ran her own fingers down through Hayley’s dark braids until Onu had reached Hayley’s other hand. She interlaced their fingers, four nestled within five, then brought both hands together.

_ “When I told you about Maru and his offer, you told me that you had not made up your mind yet. You took my hand then, just as I am taking yours now. You told me that you would clear your heart and mind when the time comes. I can see that your heart and mind are clear, now. You are ready.” _

_ “How long have you felt the same way?”  _ Hayley asked.

“ _ It started when I saw you fighting so strongly for what you felt was right. You were willing to turn on your own bad blood, to throw away the chance of ever going back to your home, to save a people you had only just met.”  _ Onu held firm onto their clasped hands, squeezing for emphasis. “ _ I saw you, then. And I saw how you became a part of us so easily, like you had slipped your hand into that of your mates’. But I also saw that you continued to struggle. And I felt a swell of pride in those moments, to know that no matter how difficult, you would always consider what the right path was.” _

_ “But you never...”  _ Hayley trailed off.

“ _ I did not want to sway your choice. I cared about you too much,”  _ Onu said. She turned her head and looked down for a moment.  _ “And...this choice is not an easy one either. No one has made the choice with me yet for the same reason. _ ”

“ _ It doesn’t feel difficult to me, _ ” Hayley said, warmth surging through her chest.

Onu looked up, eyes glistening around their edges. She smiled, then laughed a breathy laugh, deep in her throat.

“ _ You are not the only one who has had to walk a path between two worlds, _ ” Onu said, voice thick.

Hayley felt the tickling sensation of floating seeds brush over her back and shoulders as she drew in towards Onu. She kissed Onu’s eye, than the other. Onu released Hayley’s hands, and Hayley floated them up to either side of Onu’s face. For a moment, they only looked at each other, drinking each other in with each shallow breath.

In the next, they were entwined, in each other and in the soft tall grasses. The seeds around them, landing on their bodies and alighting as they moved with each other. 

“ _ Wait, _ ” Onu breathed, and Hayley paused, her lips pressing under the swell of Onu’s breast. Hayley broke away from the soft blue expanse of her new mate’s skin to look up. Onu held up her queue between the two of them.

_ Oh, god... _

Hayley held hers up, brushing their hair together. The two trembling queues met. Tendrils wove together, and the spark in both of their minds ignited into a flame.

  
  
  
  



	36. Chapter 35: Pandora's Box Finale

Chapter Thirty-Five: Pandora’s Box Finale

Curling fronds. Flat, waxy leaves. Massive, slick vines. The underground enclosure was one of the largest Conrad had ever seen. How had they had hollowed out this space under the mountains? Maybe it had been some kind of natural cave.

Scattered among the jungle plants were a variety of instruments...and avatars. Dressed in lab coats, fatigues, or just casual wear, they mingled among the underbrush. Some held instruments, others were just plugged in, in some seemingly meditative state. The whole scene was illuminated by an artificial light source in the rafters above.

“How do you like our operation?” Dawson surveyed the scene in front of her. “Quite a lot of work at first. But soon it became self-sustainable, which was of course the point. Provided we maintain the lighting and atmosphere.”

“It does seem like a lot of work,” Conrad commented, as diplomatically as he could manage.  _ This is what they had been working on? No rescue efforts, or air delivery, or national defense? What in the everloving hell? _

“Yes...putting together a plan to save the planet has been a lot of work.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Conrad replied.

Dawson gestured to a railed platform to their right. “My office is that way. I’ll be there with you in just a few minutes.”

With that, Dawson moved off in the opposite direction, where there appeared to be a second airlock. Conrad watched her disappear behind the reinforced door. He leaned on the metal railing as he took the scene in front of him in a second time. 

_ Unbelievable. _

Dawson’s office was spacious. Ceiling to floor windows looked out on the activities below. Conrad watched a male avatar with close-cropped hair and a whip protected by a plastic sheath gathering a plant sample.

The door swung open. A nine-foot avatar female walked through the door. Dawson was dressed in a custom-tailored pantsuit. Her avatar’s hair was short and shaggy, her neural whip wrapped in a navy fabric that matched her suit. 

Dawson settled into a large office chair which was positioned behind her desk. 

“Have a seat, Boers.”

Thankfully, there was a human-sized chair. Boers pulled it up to her desk, pumping the side handle to bring himself up to near eye-level with the president.

“I know you’re wondering why we’re doing all of this.” Dawson gestured out the window. “And what your own potential role on the Obtanium Project will be.”

“The Obtanium Project?” Boers echoed.

Dawson nodded. “My staff have a flair for the dramatic every so often. As did whoever it was that named the mineral in the first place. If unobtanium is, well, unobtainable, then it only makes sense to look for something that’s obtainable.” She glanced out the window. “Originally, I responded to the energy crisis by putting some of America’s top consultants, financial, environmental, and so on. What followed was predictable - a five-hundred page report eventually landed on my desk.” She leaned in, elbows on her desk, tail twitching with bundled energy. “You heard the news about the hacker in Indiana?”

“I believe it was six or so months ago,” Conrad recalled.

“We drove up there the day of the news report. My people offered him a job on the spot. He was in this complex by the next working day. Maro Pagonis started working with the IT department on establishing a more reliable, encrypted connection to the Pandorian biosphere. From there, we established contact with none other than Dr. Augustine.”

“What? Conrad interjected, in spite of himself. “She’s alive?”

Dawson shook her head. “Not...exactly. She’s part of the biosphere. She appears to be acting as some kind of human representative for the planet’s consciousness.”

_ Incredible.  _

“Dr. Augustine,” Dawson continued, “suggested that we use the inherent properties of the biosphere to support life on Earth. The largest barrier to this process would naturally be that Pandoran plants require an atmosphere different from ours. The next alternative that was seriously considered was the mass consciousness transfer, and for a while, we focused our efforts on the transition. 

“But then, we came to a conclusion after looking at the data in front of us.” Dawson’s ears swiveled, as if to emphasize her point. “Even with a heavily reduced population, it would still be almost insurmountably impossible to restore Earth’s biosphere. The initial technological boost needed - carbon scrubbers, cloud seeders, earth detoxifiers - surpasses the current energy needs and human resources of our dwindling population. 

Her eyes glinted. “The Pandoran biosphere offers the solution. In the place of unobtanium driven technology guiding the re-forestation of Earth, you have organic technology that can monitor all the important factors - what plants need to go where to process what toxin, whether to support plants that thrive in low-light conditions. The biosphere has those capabilities inherently built into their very genetic code.”

“Is this project attempting to replicate the properties of the Pandoran biosphere in Earth atmospheric conditions?” Boers aked.

“It was, at first,” Dawson replied. “But then, a few of our staff came to us with a new proposition. Even if we were successful in adapting the plant life to Earth’s atmosphere, remaining as humans in a Pandoran biosphere would have major disadvantages. Take the organic interfacing queue, for example.” Dawson reached behind her and brought her neural whip forward in one hand. She turned it around, as pink tendrils slowly crept out from the fabric sheath. “This would provide us with an instant communications conduit, from human to human. If would ensure that, when we pass on, we can be integrated into the rest of the biosphere.” She smirked. “Heaven is a place on Earth.”

“You’re going to terra - well, ‘pandoraform’ the atmosphere, and transfer the rest of human consciousness into na’vi bodies.” Conrad said. It felt...surreal. “I mean...how long is this going to take? Just growing enough bodies...”

“We’ve come to the part where we you come in.” Dawson looked at Conrad over steepled fingers. “The atmosphere is going to be transformed in two weeks. We can’t delay much farther than that, as the greenhouse effect is accelerating. Your role will be to first assist a select amount of individuals to pass through to the Pandoran biosphere. From there, you will be involved in the terraforming process. You will be assigned a new body, which has already been grown for you. Your role will mainly be in technology conversion, which will involve ensuring that our existing tech is adapted for the new biosphere and the needs of our new forms.”

“Two weeks won’t be enough to have everyone transferred,” Conrad noted. 

Dawson nodded. “There was no way we could have done it. Even if we had opened our doors months ago, we would have been swarmed. There was a chance that key individuals, such as yourself, could have been injured or otherwise compromised in the panicked masses.”

Conrad was having trouble maintaining his composure. “Christ,” he finally sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“We did the best we could,” Dawson said. “This was a no-win scenario.”

“That’s going to be hard to explain to our loved ones,” Conrad said, voice hard as ice.

“For those of us who still have their loved ones with us, yes, it will be difficult,” Dawson shot back, still completely composed. “Generation upon generation brought us to this point. Every decision took a loan out on human lives, and now it’s time to repay the debt.”

Conrad and President Dawson stared at each other. Both knew the truth, and neither wanted to break down and lash it out at the other.  _ We’re condemning billions to death. We could have saved more earlier, if we tried. But nobody tried. We all wanted to pretend we weren’t on the precipice. And now, only the elite will live on in stolen bodies on a stolen world. _

“Do you know how many people will die?” Conrad asked. 

“At least two million have transferred over, based on our best estimates. That’s exceptional, given the amount of driver beds that actually exist on Earth. Some individuals built transfer beds from scratch, or repurposed old VR sets. But we’re out of time. The only decision that’s in our control is whether the planet lives or dies.”

“My wife and daughter are still missing,” Conrad said. All of the tension, the waiting, the hoping over the past few months was oozing out of him. If they were lost, somewhere out there, then it would be over in two weeks. The empty vessel that was his body began to refill with a red, liquid rage.

“Your wife and daughter reached the Tyson complex last night at 2000 hours.” After a pause, Dawson added, “My own husband wasn’t as fortunate. I hope you keep that in mind before you judge the difficult decision that we have all had to make.”

Conrad felt his vision swim. He staggered to his feet from the chair, then sunk to his knees.

* * *

 

Conrad wiped away the tears, and gripped the monitor. Together with Nella he wept, neither of them saying a word for what seemed like an eternity.

“I can’t believe you left just as we arrived,” Nella said at last. She managed a raspy chuckle. Her eyes gleamed through her tears. “Shelly is going to be so happy to talk to you. Do you want me to get her?”

“Hold on, not yet.” Boer rubbed his eyebrows in one hand. “A lot is going on right now. I mean, a lot.”

“How bad is it?” 

Boers nodded. There was no point trying to beat around the bush. “They’re going to terraform the planet. I mean, they’re going to change the world into another Pandora.”

“I...I guess that’s good. There really isn’t another way for them to restore the planet?”

Boers shook his head. “They don’t have the human resources or energy to manage the transformation. They would have done it already if it were possible, hon. The pandoran biosphere is smart enough to be resilient enough to thrive here.”

Nella nodded along. “Even with how bad the atmosphere is getting?”

“Well...that’s the problem.”

“What?” Nella squinted through the videolink. “Babe...how is everyone going to breathe outside?”

Boers shook his head. “They’re not. Humans will have to stay inside, survive on oxygen, or transfer into na’vi bodies.”

“But...why?”

“It’s the only the solution. That’s what the president says.”

“How is our daughter going to grow up in this kind of world?”

“I...I don’t know. I think Dawson will grow her a body. And you, too. It might take a little while, but - “

“That’s...babe, that’s horrifying.”

“It is.”

“What about the ships on base? Arrange a trip to one of the offworld colonies?”

Conrad thought about it for a moment. It would be a hard life. The future of the unterraformed colonies was also in jeopardy due to the unobtanium crisis, but one of the terraformed colonies, like Mars, was an option. Mars was colder and less nutrient-dense than the Earth, but it was the only planet that they had successfully, sustainable terraformed. In fact, it was a comforting thought that Earth life would continue somewhere. 

But they couldn’t go there. Not without the president’s approval. He had already been given a na’vi body, and and an assignment to participate in the planet's’ transformation. Maybe he could ask for the two of them to go there...but how long would the ships be running between worlds? How long until they could mold Pandoran biotechnology to allow them to become a space-faring race?

“I’ll speak with the president. But before we make any decisions, I think we need to spend some time together as a family.”

“In that case...when are you getting back to the base?”

“As soon as I can, hon.” 

Conrad hated not giving her a straight answer. But they had been though this before. There were a lot of sacrifices that had to be made in a military family. On the other hand, they were all safe...for now.


	37. Chapter 36: The New Normal Finale

Chapter Thirty-Six: The New Normal Finale

Norm travelled along the wire that connects all na’vi to their mother. He could just catch a flicker here, an electrical impulse there. They grew closer together, and he moved faster, and gradually the world became brighter. Then the white light appeared again, and he was - 

Back home.

He hadn’t been home in years...not since undergrad at U of San Francisco. He was sitting on a beach in Stanley Park, in Vancouver. His family used to drive there for walks, back when they were all together, living in a suburb in nearby Richmond. 

Norm crumbled some sand between his fingers.  It was a cloudless day, unusual for rainy Vancouver. So blue. For a second, a part of him felt uncomfortable, as if his brain was trying to tell him something. He blinked, and there was a flash of blue and the flicker of a fire, and then he was back here.

“Can’t believe it took you so long to make it here.”

Trudy had her arm around him, drawing him in close. The cool sea breeze flowed around them.

“Trudy,” Norm fidgeted. “I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long.”

“Hush.” Trudy leaned in. She placed a finger on his lips. “Don’t apologize. Don’t feel bad about anything. Just be happy, and be here.”

Trudy stood up, sliding her shirt off over her head. Her nipples were visible under her black, no-nonsense bra. She turned around to smile at Norm.

“Come on!”

With that, Trudy was running down the sandy shore. She paused to take her boots off, flinging them on the sand with a wet  _ thunk _ . Her camo pants soon joined the boots. Trudy dove into the water.

“Holy shit Norm,” she came up spluttering. “Why didn’t you tell me it was so cold!”

“We’re not on some tropical island, Trudy,” Norm laughed, stripping himself down to his boxers. “This is Canada.”

Trudy splashed him. Norm responded by jumping in beside her, sending up a spray of water. 

She looked back at the shoreline as they treaded water.

“Remember when it was like this?”

“Yeah,” was all that Norm could say. For a moment, they admired the expanse of trees growing beyond the beach. Maple, oak, aspen, pine...their leaves fluttered in the wind, like green glitter under the golden sun.

Trudy put her hand on the side of Norm’s face. She was so beautiful. Wet strands of hair hung down, floating in the water around her shoulders. Norm could just make out the hard outline of her breasts beneath the water, cupped her bra. He felt a lance of heat move through his belly.

“Focus, Norm.” Trudy said, smirking. “All of this,” she gestured around them, then put her other hand around his head. “It’s in here. And that still makes it real.”

Norm shook his head. “I don’t understand..what do you mean? Isn’t it all dead now?”

Trudy just stared back at him. Then suddenly, she ducked her head under the water and disappeared. 

“Trudy...” Norm looked around. “Trudy!” He dove underwater, trying to follow her.  Everything turned blue - 

  * Golden eyes, twinkling skin, crackling fire, chanting voices - 



He was falling through the air. Clouds whipped past him. He fell between enormous structures that were somewhere between tree and skyscraper. In the heat of the Pandoran air, ikran flew with their riders, dressed in business casual, on their daily commute. Norm looked up as he heard a deafening roar. A rocket was on its’ way into the sky, heading to a distant planet.

“What - “ Norm started, before he plunged through the ground. Leaves whizzed past him, then slowed as he reached the ground. Norm felt his bare feet come to rest on the soft earth below. 

Grace stood in front of him, in her human form, lab coat and all.

“Dr Augustine!” Norm cried out. Grace turned and walked through the underbrush. 

“Wait!” Norm yelled out after her as he stumbled, hitting branches out of the way. 

“Stop yelling, Spellman,” Grace snapped. “You’re going to disturb the natural wildlife.”

“What was that I saw back there?” Norm asked, keeping his voice lower, as they walked. “It looked like a city, a city made of trees...”

“A child, Norm.”

Grace stopped, and Norm was finally able to catch up to her. He stopped himself before he fell into a large, shallow bowl-like structure in the earth. Roots laced around themselves as they followed the contours of the bowl, culminating in...

“Is that a tower?”

Grace nodded, a slow smile spreading on her face. “Yes, it’s Ewya’s connection with the Earth. The mother is hearing the father, for the first time.” 

Before Norm could reply, Grace’s expression turned dark. “The mother and father are together now, and Ewya is becoming fertile. But there is the one that is trying to stop them.”

“Who?” Norm asked. His head was beginning to feel fuzzy. Wasn’t there someplace else he was supposed to be right now?

“Quartich.” Grace said. She looked like she was about to cry. “New people, new ideas, new ways to grow and be alive. But he doesn’t even want the growth. Not in any direction. 

“How do we stop him?” Norm asked.

“There are many souls here,” Grace said. “I’m becoming one of many. Quartich and the others don’t want to be a part of Ewya. He’s like a cancer.” She knitted her eyebrows together, and began to pace in the way Norm remembered her to, back on the base. “How do you eliminate a brain cancer?”

“I don’t know,” Norm replied. “I’m a xenoanthropologist, not a doctor.”

Grace raised her eyebrows at him.

“Tell them,” she said, gesturing to the spire. “Tell them about this.”

The edges of Norm’s vision sparkled, as the wire drew closer again.

“No! Wait - what about Trudy?!” Norm yelled as he fell backward.

“Trudy’s here,” Grace said. “You aren’t. Stay where you are.” She pointed towards him.

Norm fell back through the wire.

When he woke up, Norm felt his body swinging back and forth, very gently, through the air. He cracked his eyes open, and immediately regretted it. His stomach lurched, and he closed his eyes and laid his head to the side, with a low moan in his throat. 

“ _ He’s awake, _ ” Norm heard in his periphery.

He felt a hand on the side of his head. “ _ No fever, _ ” the voice said.  _ “Good _ .” It was Ninat.

“ _ Ninat, _ ” Norm whispered.  _ “I feel sick. _ ”

“ _ It will pass, _ ” Ninat said. “ _ I have medicine for your stomach. Slowly eat this.” _

The fingers were at his lips, and although part of his brain was screaming at him not to eat anything, Norm took the herb in his hand and began eating it, slowly. It tasted sharp and spicy, but not unappetizing. He wondered if it was a similar compound to ginger, back home. 

Norm risked opening his eyes. Ninat was shaking a fan over his body. The cool wafts of air were helping with his nausea.

“ _ H...how long? _ ”

“ _ You have been asleep since the evening. It is early morning now. We could not rouse you until now. _ ”

_ “I think I want to go back to sleep, _ ” Norm said. Even being awake right now felt like more of an effort than the time he tried to tame his Ikran.

_ “Drink some water first, _ ” Ninat commanded. She held out a water skin. Norm took little sips, until he felt like he had gambled with his stomach enough and pushed it away with his hand.

Ninat gently brushed the sweat-soaked strands of hair out of his face. 

“ _ I will be here. _ ”

Norm drifted off to sleep. When he woke up next, it was midafternoon. Alpha Centauri A, Pandora’s sun, was on it’s way down to the horizon. The air was stuffy and still.

“Ninat?” Norm croaked.

Norm rolled over. He was lying in one of the cocoon-like hammocks that the na’vi strung up along the thick limbs of their hometree. For a moment, he worried that he was too weak to haul himself back up the tree branch. 

_ Fuck it, I’ll give it a try.  _ He was thirsty, and Ninat was nowhere in sight.

Norm turned himself over. He took a few deep breaths to try and clear his foggy mind. Then, he kept low and crawled up to the tree branch. The thick strands of the hammock gave surprisingly good grip for his feet, and he was able to leverage himself up onto the tree branch. From there, it was surprisingly easy to make his way down into the trunk of the tree.

As he stumbled his way down the winding pathway of the tree’s core, he passed by group upon group of Omaticaya. Some were families, sitting around fires and sharing stories. There were weavers, hunters sharpening knives... _ the clan is really coming alive again,  _ Norm thought blearily.

He stopped a male na’vi making his way up the tree.

“ _ Greetings, brother. I am looking for Ninat. _ ”

The other na’vi seemed to hesitate at first, but then spoke. “ _ Ninat has been told to leave you alone. _ ”

_ What? _

Norm wanted to back up to the canopy, to see if she was there, but his cramping stomach sent him further down the tree. There was usually a communal fire burning at the centre of the trunk, on the ground, and there was also usually something to eat nearby. Norm asked for a waterskin from an older female with thick, long braids. He drank greedily. There was a fresh skill, maybe a sturmbeest - it was hard to tell in its current condition - near the fire. Norm ripped off a piece of flesh, stuck it on a roasting stick, and set it over the fire.

While it cooked, he looked around. The odd na’vi he made eye contact with nodded, and said “ _ taronyu”. Hunter.  _ The rest of them were minding their own business.  _ So formal _ . Norm thought, as he tore into the freshly-cooked flesh. Sweat poured down his back from the heat of the fire. After the dreamquest, Norm felt like nothing could hurt him anymore. 

_ Not even my own people who choose to turn their backs on me.  _

After Norm had eaten his fill, he went back up to the canopy. Winding his way past the rows of hammocks, he climbed into the upper canopy, where the ikran roost lay. 

“Vee!” Norm called, whooping to get his ride’s attention.

Veeger crashed through the leaves, coming to an ungainly rest on the same branch that Norm was standing on. Norm held out his queue, and Vee obliged by bowing his head. Norm made the bond, and for a moment, felt the disorientation that comes from looking at yourself with multiple sets of eyes. Norm’s eyes were sharp, but he also saw a faint, blurred outline of himself in Vee’s. His blindness was not complete, and he was able to navigate to an extent with his near infrared eyes. But he had lost his colour vision early, in the egg, Vee told him. It made it difficult to understand the others, difficult to be a part.

The first time Norm had bonded to Vee, he hadn’t understood what Norm was seeing - it was all brand new to him. Norm had begun to teach him -  _ tree, forest, na’vi, palulukan, sky.  _ As Vee began to learn how to see through Norm’s eyes, Norm had felt Vee’s happiness and excitement. 

 

  * __Where are we going?_ Vee asked._


  * _Have you seen Uai’he?_


  * _The one that rides with the female from the rock._


  * _Yes._


  * _I remember._


  * _Take me there._



 

Veeger launched himself off the branch. Norm kept his eyes sharp as they wove through the remainder of the vines and branches, until they were in the clear air. For a moment, the human/na’vi part of Norm’s brain tried to remind him that he was far too high up in the air by launching his gut into his throat. Then Veeger was there, reminding him that the air was freedom.

 

  * __They are by the river.__



 

Veeger tucked his wings in as they angled towards the ground, not far from the new Hometree. Norm guided Veeger through the lower canopy, keeping his ears sharp for any signs of a toruk or any other predator. In the midafternoon heat, it was unlikely that many creatures would be active for long. Hunting was an activity done primarily in the colder hours of the morning or night on Pandora.

Veeger and Norm landed at the top of a waterfall.

 

  * __Where will you be?__


  * _I will stay nearby. Find somewhere with shade._



 

Norm delinked. Veeger shook his head and slunk off on all fours, panting.

“ _ Norm!”  _ Ninat called to him. She was treading water in the pool beneath him.

Norm waved back.  _ “Is it safe to jump? _ ”he called out.

“ _Yes._ _I would not jump head first at that height, though._ ”

Norm wasn’t planning on setting any high diving records, so he jumped, legs straight and arms folded around himself. The water was deliciously cool as he plunged in, and for a moment, he wondered if he should call Veeger back to join him.  _ Do ikran even swim?  _ Then he surfaced, saw Ninat swimming beside him, and decided that Veeger was probably fine on his own.

“H..hey,” Norm said.

Ninat smiled as she treaded water. “H-hey.  _ What does that mean?” _

_ “It means hello.  _ Hey _ or  _ hi.”

_ “Many ways to say hello. _ ” Ninat looked at him with her great, pale eyes.  _ “Your language sounds strange. I wonder what it sounds like to sing in it.” _

_ “Plenty of people have,”  _ Norm said.  _ “I can teach you the songs.” _

Ninat looked away. She swam to the side of the pool, and Norm followed her. Ninat lifted herself out of the water and sat on the edge. She absentmindedly began to squeeze the water out of her hair. Norm sat beside her.

“ _ Ninat...who told you to ignore me? _ ”

“ _ The others, _ ” Ninat said, still not looking at him.  _ “They said that what happened to Neytiri will happen to me too.” _

_ “ _ Neytiri?” Norm asked.  _ “What happened to Neytiri?” _

* * *

 

“Neytiri!”

Jake climbed the ramp of hometree, oblivious to the na’vi who were scrambling to get out of his way. He hadn’t seen her since the evening. She hadn’t shown up to Norm’s ceremony. She had told him that she wasn’t feeling well, and wanted to lie down. Ninat had been kind of enough to take Neytiri’s place.

The ceremony had ended, and Mo’at had disappeared. Jake had been kept occupied with taking care of Norm. Fortunately, Mo’at had been training a several other na’vi in the healing arts. Norm had choked down a couple of swallows of water and passed out. Anut, a young male, told Jake that they would track his pulse and breathing, and alert him if there were any changes.

“Neytiri!”

Jake had been looking for Mo’at, when he found her weeping. He weaved his way through the base of the tree, following the sound. Mo’at had turned to him as he burst into her chambers, face streaked with tears.

He was almost there. He leapt from branch to branch without thinking. His hands found purchase as he made his way to the woven room of tree branches where he and Neytiri made their home within their clan’s home.

“Neytiri, are you ok? What happened?”

Neytiri was curled in a ball in their hammock. She stared blankly, her face was striped in shafts of light that came in through the branches.

Jake knelt by her side. He cupped her face in his hand.

“Neytiri, talk to me. Why is your mother so upset? She wouldn’t even speak to me. Are you ok?”

“Jake,” Neytiri whispered to him. Jake could see that her eyes were puffy and swollen. “ _ I see you, Jake. _ ”

“ _ I see you, love, _ ” Jake whispered back.

“ _ I can not see our child, _ ” Neytiri said.

 


	38. Chapter 37: True Neutral

Chapter Thirty-Seven: True Neutral

“ _ I have to go back to see Jake _ ,” Norm said.

“ _ Wait,” _ Ninat said, taking hold of his arm. “ _ I could not bear to be near the tree when I was told. Everyone was crowding, whispering, wondering. The chief needs time with his mate without prying eyes. _ ”

“ _ Ninat, I understand, but... _ ” But there was a voice inside of him now, saying... _ Jake didn’t come after you when you fell from the cliff.  _

_ He had a responsibility to uphold the values of the na’vi.  _

Another part of him protested -   _ Fuck their values, he left me for dead, but I’m sure as hell not going to leave him.  _

The first part came back at him -  _ He’s not in danger. What can you say? What can you do? _

Then, both parts of his mind slammed together in frustration. Norm ran his fingers through his hair, and sat down hard again on the ground. He took a few, deep breaths.

_ “What am I supposed to do now?” _

_ “What do you mean?”  _ Ninat replied.

“ _ I...I’m confused. I have so many questions. And I don’t know what to do.” _

_ “Then ask.” _

Norm took another breath, and tried to let it out slowly.

_ “So you didn’t want to be around me because Neytiri lost her child? You thought if we spent time together, if we...got closer to each other, the same would happen to you?” _

Ninat dragged a hand through the crystal clear water that lapped over their legs. 

_ “I do not understand how dreamwalker bodies work. Maybe the child was lost for another reason. It happens. And not every female wishes to have a child. So no, that is not why. So...I do want to be around you. It is the others that make it difficult.”  _ She looked up at him again, face sparkling in the reflected light of the pool.  _ “The others talk, Norm. They talked when I went to help you on the mountain. They talked when I was your guide during your dream quest.” _

_ “And what are they saying?”  _ Norm insisted.

_ “They say I am throwing my life away to be with you. That your kind is savage and violent, and that we should not have chosen Jake in the first place as our leader, though he rose the Last Shadow.” _

_ “Thats...that’s awful. Does Jake know about this?” _

Ninat shrugged.  _ “I believe he does. He must know as well that the death of Neytiri’s child will further stir up the rumors. It does not help that we are hearing human voices within Eywa, and their numbers grow with every day.” _

Norm looked down at his hands - blue-skinned, lightly striped. They weren’t the hands he was born with. Those hands, along with the rest of his body, were in the ground.

_ “The others sometimes ignore me, or walk away when I try to speak with them. Is this why?” _

Ninat nodded.  _ “Yes. They are afraid. I do not know why.”  _ She flicked her tail in annoyance.  _ “When one of the people does something wrong, is banished, we do not banish the whole family. It is ridiculous.”  _ She leaned in, and met his eyes with hers again. “ _ I see you, Norm Spellman. You are not bad. You are not a threat. You are a hunter!” _ She placed her closed fist over her chest, and then on his, tapping it lightly but assertively. 

_ “Even though I fell during my iknimaya?” _

She tapped his chest again. _ “The true mark of a hunter is not always finding his or her prey. It is running through the forest, day after day, hungry and starving. It is falling and becoming injured, and still going on. The others are brash, fighting and boasting among themselves. They think that is the mark of the true hunter. They call someone like you a baby. I thought you were a baby too once...but I know now that they are the babies - making noise, doing nothing but waving their arms about. You are the hunter. I have seen you on the mountain. You are quiet, and you you move with purpose - to become yourself. You are not afraid to ask, to admit to not knowing, and that is the best kind of bravery.” _

Ninat’s fist was hot on the bare skin of Norm’s chest. It felt like the spark of a fire that began to surge within him.  _ “And, _ ” she finished.  _ “You do not choose only. You choose together. _ ”

Ninat unfurled her hand, letting her four fingers rest on his chest.

_ “I have made my choice. What is yours? _ ”

“I...” Norm felt himself hesitating.  _ “There is still so much I do not know.” _

_ “I will teach you, _ ” Ninat said. A smile came over her face, and Norm realized how much he had grown to like it over the time they had spent together. The surging in his chest began to travel downwards, along the length of his belly, as he watched her chest rise and fall in anticipation. 

“ _ But is it okay to...if we mate, what will happen if you have a child?” _

“ _ A mother and child have a bond together, _ ” Ninat said.  _ “There are times where it is not right to have a child. If a child wishes to come to the mother, the mother can tell the child that it is the wrong time. To go back to Ewya.” _

“ _ Okay...but are you still sure you want to...with me?” _

Ninat drew him in for a long kiss. Her could feel her smiling through it, as their lips tasted each other. Ninat tasted smoky and sweet, flowers by the fire. She traced his fingers through his hair, then over his chest. Then, she pulled away, still grinning.

“ _ Do you believe me now?” _

Norm felt his head swimming. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve Ninat, but he wasn’t going to let her go. To hell with the world.

_ “Teach me,”  _  he murmured, moving in again to taste her. 

In his heart, he saw Trudy waving goodbye. 

_ Good luck, Norm. _

* * *

 

“ _ It is too late to return the child to Ewya while still in the mother’s earth.” _ Mo’at said. 

Jake and Mo’at sat on one of the upper branches of hometree. Jake couldn’t help looking down from time to time. The trees were a smear of gray-green below. How easy it would be to never cause Neytiri to suffer again. But that wasn’t the way of the soldier. He had to keep fighting. 

“ _ What if we take her to the humans?”  _ Jake asked.  _ “They have...ways of finding what’s wrong. Even with a baby that hasn’t been born yet.” _

“ _ Perhaps,”  _ Mo’at said.  _ “I have my own ways, Jake. The humans heal from without with all their tools, and I heal from within, with Eywa. In a case such as this, I would take my daughter to the tree of souls. But...I am afraid. Ewya is not herself now.”  _ She shook her head.

“ _ Because of the human voices? _ ” Jake asked. Mo’at nodded.

“ _ You are our leader, you are Neytiri’s mate, and you know the humans. I can not make this choice alone.” _

_ “I...with all due respect, by body came from the humans. If this happened because of me, it would be our best chance of finding out what to do.” _

* * *

 

The link unit opened with a faint hiss.

For a moment, Hayley lay there, eyes open, staring at nothing. 

Part of her...most of her, if she was being honest - was asleep in soft grasses by a bioluminescent river. Sleeping alongside her new mate. Before they had kissed each other goodnight, they had decided to go to the clan to ask the shaman to conduct the consciousness transfer ceremony.

Hayley slowly propped herself up until she was sitting. She waited a minute for the head rush to subside. She swung her legs off the platform and dropped onto the hard metal floor.

_ Stardust,  _ Onu had called her.  _ My gift from the sky. _

She shivered with...with many feelings. It would take a long time to unravel all of them, but she was looking forward to the unraveling.

Hayley walked down the empty corridor and back into her room. For a minute, she stopped at the doorway. She looked at the unmade bed, the coffee rings on her desk. The books strewn around. On the wall, a picture of her brother. She hadn’t talked to him in seven years, but for some reason, part of her stubbornly wanted to keep that picture up.

It wasn’t much, this room, but it was a piece of her humanity. She had to start saying goodbye to it, and other things like it. 

She felt the chill of guilt seep in from her earlier conversation with Li. She had missed Max’s funeral ceremony. She hadn’t known Max that well, but she knew as well as anyone that it wasn’t about that.

Hayley decided she would try and find Li. Check in with him. Try to explain how things had changed so quickly for her, and how she was struggling to keep up.

As she stepped back out into the hallway, the intercom crackled to life.

“WARNING: ATMOSPHERIC CHANGE IN SICK BAY. MEDICAL PERSONNEL TO SICK BAY STAT.”

_ That  _ was unusual. Hayley changed direction, jogging down the hallway in the opposite direction. She remembered the last time she had gone this way. She had a fist full of glass, and a heart full of the same. Conrad Boers. How was he doing, anyway? How was the earth doing? She had to talk to Lucas, tell him she wanted to know. 

She wasn’t sure how amenable Lucas would be, given what else she had to tell him about crossing over. 

People were already moving in and out of the double doors to sickbay.

“Come on in,” waved a female soldier. “And grab a mask.”

“Did something happen to cause the atmospheric change?” Hayley asked, locking her oxygen mask into place with a hiss. “We didn’t lost structural integrity, did we?”

“No,” the soldier replied. Hayley racked her brain for the soldier’s name. There weren’t that many people left on the base. Marge? Margot? It was definitely Margot. But what was her last name?

The doors opened. A flurry of people were clearing room in the centre of sickbay. They were laying down mattresses, side by side, and wheeling in equipment. To one side, there was a portable link unit station.

“What...” 

“WARNING: CRASH DOORS OPENING. STAND CLEAR.”

The enormous metal door on the opposite end of the sick bay slowly lifted open. It caught for a moment, then continued moving upward with a screech of metal on metal.

Hayley squinted through the midday light that blazed in. There was a loud road, and the sun was blocked out by the sweeping wings of the great leonopteryx. In the beast’s shadow, Hayley could make out - 

Jake and Neytiri. Neytiri was heavy with a child, eyes streaked with tears. She stumbled into the sick bay, Jake holding her around the shoulders.

In a few brief moments, it clicked into place.

_ Something happened to her baby? _

_ What could go - oh my god. The avatar’s reproductive viability. _

_ The na’vi have a link with their offspring inside of them. _

_ The avatars are genetically programmed to be cerebrally neutral. _

_ Her baby doesn’t have a consciousness of its own. _

Someone should have told Jake...they had tried experiments before. On the avatars and na’vi. None of the offspring had their own consciousness, and attempts to transfer consciousness were unsuccessful, because they needed the human’s genetics and brain state for it to properly work.

Why hadn’t anybody told Jake? 

“Ms. King.”

Dr. Lucas had pulled up beside her.

“This is about the cerebral neutrality, isn’t it?”

Lucas nodded. “It’s unfortunate. We weren’t sure if combining avatar and pure na’vi genetics would offset the effects. It appears that it hasn’t.”

A team of medics helped Neytiri lay down on the makeshift stretcher. It was bizarre to watch five and six-foot tall humans helping all nine-feet of Neytiri. And still, in this moment she looked so small. Jake quickly made his way over to Lucas.

“You’re Dr. Lucas, right?” he said, without any further introduction.

“Yes, Mr. Sully,” Lucas replied.

“You’re in charge of Hell’s Gate now, right?”

“Yes...why do you ask?”  
Jake pointed to the now-closed blast doors.

“Why are your people still mining in the jungle?” Jake leaned in, ears flattened. 

“What?” Hayley said reflexively. 

“We require unobtanium to sustain our life support and energy systems,” Lucas said calmly.

“And who did you ask permission for this? You didn’t ask me, that’s for sure.” Jake was clearly not in the mood to negotiate.

_ Shit, this isn’t good. Wasn’t Lucas waiting on me though, to see if they could mine up near the eastern sea? Are they that bad off that they had to start again already? _

“Unfortunately, Jake, we didn’t have a choice,” Lucas said. “Our generators were already winding down. No one can come to take us off the planet for at least the next four to five years. I’m sorry it had to happen this way, but if you stop us, you will be destroying us.”

“It would be one thing if it was just the unobtanium mining,” Jake said, his tail whipping back and forth. “But our people are hearing more and more voices of humans within Eywa. I don’t remember you asking us to continue your experiments here, either.”

“The humans have nothing to do with that,” Hayley butted in. “There’s a tower that Eywa built, up on -”

“That’s enough, Hayley.” Lucas held up his hand. “With due respect, Jake, your wife is ill. Now is not the right time to be negotiating these sort of- “

Jake laughed, cutting Lucas off. Then his expression grew serious again.

“No, Lucas. This is not a negotiation. You can’t keep killing and poisoning Eywa. That’s why we had the battle in the first place. You have a week. Shut everything down. Transfer into your avatars, and we will accept you. But keep destroying our mother, and I will destroy you.” Jake bared his teeth with this last phrase.

Hayley was impressed with how Lucas continued to stand his ground. “I’m surprised at your assertion that this is not a negotiation, given that we’ve offered you and your wife medical care.”

“Seeing the machines changed things,” Jake said. “I should have listened to Mo’at. This is what we do, destroy everything we come across.” He face flickered, an expression that Hayley knew all too well. 

_ Jake is different, _ Hayley thought to herself.  _ He’s becoming one of them. He has to. I know what it feels like to be straddling both worlds. _

“Not everyone has an avatar, Jake,” Lucas said, voice softer.

“Everyone has to make a choice. Your choices have consequences for this planet. I’m not going to let you hurt my people again. Every war has its’ casualties. Its’ sacrifices.”

Jake turned and made his way back to the makeshift bed. The medics had erected a privacy curtain, and Jake ducked through it and disappeared.

Hayley looked at Lucas.  _ What are we going to do now? _

“Let’s meet in my office.”

Hayley nodded. The way back through the airlock and into Lucas’ office felt like a blur.

“He’s declaring war,” Hayley said.

“That was a declaration of a man who is in a lot of pain,” Lucas said. “I’m sure once he calms down, he’ll see that he’s condemning our lives...not to mention the future of scientific progress and development on Pandora.

“I can’t see Jake feeling any less pain in the near future if his child is born without a consciousness.”

“I know this may not be the best time, but there’s another possibility,” Lucas said.  We haven’t been successful in performing a human to avatar consciousness transfer on non-cloned avatars. But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t experiment with the planet’s neural network and it’s own capabilities.”

“What?” It clicked again. “You mean using Eywa to do a consciousness transfer?”

“You must admit, it solves both of our problems. We don’t have the money to pour into generating bodies for all of the survivors in Hell’s Gate. And our avatars get to reproduce.”

“Thats...” 

“I’m speculating, Hayley. But we need to keep an eye on this situation. We need to offer something back to the na’vi if we’re going to continue being here. So, did you talk to the eastern ikran clan?”

“Yes, sir. They are interesting in negotiating in exchange for our mining in their territory. But,” Hayley chose her words carefully, “The fact that we already have begun our work in Omaticaya territory presents problems for us.”

“I’m aware. Ms. King. We’ve been having some trouble with our emergency generator, and if we weren’t able to fuel the backup, we would have all been on oxygen,” Lucas said. “We’re beginning to hang on by a thread, and that thread is unravelling. I can stop the mining after today, but we’re going to have to start again soon. Let’s make arrangements to meet with the chief of the ikran clan as soon as possible.”

“Definitely,” Hayley say.

Lucas rested his hands on his desk. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly.

“Is that all, sir?” Hayley asked.

“I think so,” Lucas replied. “I have a lot of work ahead of me. Unless you have any questions for me.”

“How are they doing back home?” Hayley asked.

Lucas held his chin in one hand. “It’s hard to tell. A lot of networks have gone down. The whole thing is a complete mess. But Boers and his crew seem to be putting some rescue and relief plans into effect.”

“That’s good,” Hayley nodded. Then it was her turn to take a deep breath. “I’m planning on undergoing a permanent consciousness transfer.”

“Hmm,” Lucas said. “Is there a reason why you’ve decided to do it at this particular moment?”

“I...” Hayley paused. “I’m not sure why I didn’t do it earlier, to be honest. You guys could do without another mouth breathing air here.”

“It will make things more difficult in terms of conducting research.”

Hayley shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll find a way.”

“Thanks for letting me know. Please keep me updated. But for now, let’s proceed with arranging the meeting with the chief of the eastern ikran clan.”

 


	39. Chapter 38: v83 The Cage

Chapter Thirty Eight: v83 The Cage

 

> THE FILE YOU ARE TRYING TO ACCESS IS RESTRICTED. PASSWORD REQUIRED:

> PASSWORD:

> PASSWORD: **************

> ACCESS GRANTED

> LOADING ENTRY...

> ...

 

VLOG ENTRY: 83

Location: PQHKING, 2153

Researcher: King, H. ID# 026 ADC 018

P.I: Lucas, M. ID# 004 GNA 045

LST: 06:19:33

Date: 03/02/2154

TRANSCRIPT

 

This is my last vlog. This is the last time anyone will see me on video, in human form. There are a lot of lasts. 

I’m going to be traveling through the wire. I don’t think Lucas is particularly pleased, but on the other hand, I’m not particularly pleased with him, either.   
The Earth is growing more silent with each passing day. Maybe things will come back online someday. Maybe they’ll manage to actually pull their shit together. All I know is that Hell’s Gate is going to be history soon. All the research, the progress we made, will go silent just the same.

I wish that this time could have been one of more celebration, but there’s trouble brewing on the horizon. Jake and Neytiri are suffering, and then Lucas complicated things by mining again.So now Jake’s convinced that the humans shouldn’t stay on Pandora anymore. 

I don’t know what the future holds for humanity. I realize now that the choice I’ve been struggling with for the past...shit, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it? But it really wasn’t a choice at all. I know what I have to do.

I may not understand or even agree with everything that the na’vi are, but then again, I didn’t understand or agree with humanity either. All I can do is try to make my way forward, with help from the people that I love. 

For anyone who manages to find a way to listen, my message for you is this:

Keep going. That’s all any of us can do.

 

Hayley out.

 

END OF VLOG LST: 23:11:56:12


	40. Chapter 39: The Cross, Part II

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Cross, Part II

Dawn broke on the mountainside of Mount Rainer. The sky was less overcast than usual, and a few greasy strains of sun broke through the cloud cover and onto the landscape below. The mountains had lost their snowcaps, and the landscape was a brown with patches of green, but Conrad thought it was still beautiful, almost serene. He lifted up a corner of his mask and sipped at his instant coffee. The air gently blew, hot and dry, against his fatigues. 

He thought about what it must have looked like when he was a child. They still had flowers in the fields, back in Johannesburg, when he was growing up. His parents would take him to see other kinds, in the Zoology museum. There were even frogs in the museum, before it became too costly to continue to clone them. 

_ After this is all over, _ he thought,  _ I’m taking Shelly there. _ It was a ridiculous thought, but somehow it gave him a tiny piece of hope to hold on to. A future in a world without one. 

Conrad downed the rest of his coffee, took one last look at the mountain landscape, and made his way back into the base. 

He found Dawson in human form, in a meeting in the conference room. They appeared to be going over a number of schematics. Conrad recognized some of them as machine blueprints, but others appeared to be more biological.

Dawson looked up from one of the schematics in front of her.

“Good morning, Commander.”

“Good morning, Madam President,” Conrad echoed. “Sorry to interrupt.”

Dawson dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand. “Not a problem. We need to sort out our unfinished business. Can we meet again after breakfast, folks?” The handful of men and women in the room nodded and left. 

Conrad had a seat in one of the chairs at the table, more or less across from Dawson.

“I spoke to my wife last night,” he began without preamble. She’s at the Tyson complex. She wants to know when I’m going to be seeing her again.”

Dawson was silent for a few moments. Then, she let a small sigh escape her mouth.

“Conrad...I’m going to be frank with you. It’s going to be difficult to get back there at the present time.”

“Can they come here?” Conrad countered. He had known that Dawson was likely to tell him he couldn’t pack up and leave.

Dawson nodded. “They could. You have your pilot to send back to pick them up. But I want you to consider something else.” 

“Yes?”  
Dawson blinked, but wasn’t otherwise phased by Conrad’s shortness.

“I believe you and your family should consider the drawbacks of a life on Earth. You’re an upfront person, Boers, and I’ll respect that. We can grow your wife and child bodies, but it will take next to a year, during which they will have to find somewhere to live. It’s also a precarious time for everyone. Once we initiate the atmospheric change, we’ll have a planet full of people fighting for their lives.”

“What are you saying?” asked Boers.

“What I’m saying is that we could be under attack from a number of sources. All of us, myself included, are going to be threatened. Between the animals that will be unleashed on the world, and the humans who will fight to remain alive...New Earth will take some time to adjust. If you’re concerned about your family, there are some options. We have enough power to send them to Mars colony. There’s a ship heading out in four days that any executive branch member is welcome to place people on.”

“Would they have enough power to come back?” Boers asked.

“That, I can’t guarantee,” Dawson said. “But I’m willing to allow you to go with them, and navigate your avatar from the planet.”

_ That _ was a possibility Boers hadn’t considered. It was enticing. But - 

“Is Mars self-sustainable without unobtainum?” 

“They are looking into as an option. Mars’ atmosphere is still viable for a massive solar power project.”

“And what’s the other option?”

“Your family crosses over to Pandora,” she said, bluntly.

“I’ll have to speak with my wife, but...” Boers ran his fingers over the stubble of his hair, fresh from last night’s buzz-cut. “I appreciate you going through the options. Can we at least bring them over here for now?”

“I’ll arrange it,” Dawson said. “Is that all, Commander?”

* * *

 

Nella peered through the dim viewscreen at the last place they had seen the fire.

_ Where did you go?  _ She wanted to keep her promise to Shelly, and save whoever it was out there. But she didn’t want to go in without knowing the facts. She’d been burned, far too many times before.

Other than looking through the view screens, there wasn’t much to do at the base. Nella had let Shelly go wandering through corridors full of locked supply rooms. There was a larger room that functioned as a sort of military-scientific museum. It even had the remains of the shuttle from one of the earlier Apollo missions. Nella ran her hand down the length of its’ battered hull, realizing that no one cared anymore whether or not they touched the exhibits. It was freeing, but also depressing.

_ Is she really going to have to grow up in a place like this?  _ The planet was going to turn into a second Pandora. How was the rest of humanity going to survive? Was Shelly going to get an avatar? The walls of the complex felt like they were closing in, closer every second. 

“Are you ready, hon?”

Shelly looked up at her mom. She had been avoiding eye contact with Nella after she had told Shelly that they weren’t going to go help the people outside of the base. 

“Yeah.”

A pair of duffel bags were perched on top of each other hear the exit. Leaning in the doorframe beside them was Manuel Zimmer, base pilot.

Zion sipped at his own cup of coffee. He almost wanted to wince at the taste.  _ Could instant coffee even go bad? _

He did another sweep of the view screens. Nella had been in here about a half hour ago. She’d pointed out the location where she’d last seen the survivors huddled up against the wall.

Zion had hated watching people slowly starve to death outside the complex. They really had no other option, no place to go. The stores were out of food, and the houses were being looted. They wanted out - off the Earth, out of this mess. They thought that they would find that here, at the base. 

But Boers had kept the doors closed. Everyone had understood, even if they hadn’t liked it. There just weren’t enough supplies to go around.  _ Put your oxygen mask on first before helping others _ , Boers would repeat.  _ We’re some of the only people that stand of chance of figuring out a solution to this crisis. _

What was the excuse now? They had waited and waited, and only heard back from the president in the past few days. Then Manny had come back with a whole bunch of supplies. Offhand, he’d mentioned something about opening the doors of the complex, and letting refugees in. 

Zion saw a flicker of movement near the gate. Startled, he almost spilled his coffee over the controls. Putting the mug down, he leaned closer. Six or seven dark blurs emerged from the forest. He watched in stunned silence as one of them grabbed the bars of the gate, and tried to shake them.

With a flick of a switch, the man opened the coms to the outside gate.

“Hello there?” Zion asked.

The six figures moved backwards briefly, as if startled at first. They then moved in. Zion pulled his attention from the viewscreen at the main gate to see if he could get a better look at the travellers. Eventually, a man’s grizzled face came into view.

“Hello?” The man repeated, his voice granular and distorted as the video feed. “Is there someone there?”

“Yes!” Zion leaned into the videofeed, raising his voice. “Can you see me?”

The man leaned in closer. Zion could make out that he was a white man in his mid thirties. His jacket was tattered, and his bearded face was smeared with dirt and grease.

“Yes, I can just make you out. Can you let us in? We’re starving, and some of us are injured.”

“Of course,” Zion said. “I’m going to open the door. When you get inside, meet me at the bottom of the stairs.”

_ This is my chance, to wash away some of the blood on our hands. _

Zion leapt from his chair, through the office, and over to the elevator. He wondered whether he should have brought a first aid kit. Better to just get them inside as soon as possible.

_ I’m sorry about the rest of the you,  _ Zion thought to himself as the elevator ascended.  _ I should have tried harder to let you in. I should have convinced Conrad somehow. _

The elevator came to a stop, and Zion felt the floor settling. The doors swung open almost silently.

Zion saw the barrels of three guns pointed toward his head.

* * *

 

“So this is your jet,” Nella remarked. She tried to enunciate as best as she could through the face mask. Manny had insisted on them. Everyone at the base wore them outside. In fact, Manny had given her a look of concern when she had said that she and Shelly hadn’t been wearing masks all the way here. 

_ It’s good know my baby’s breathing fresh air.  _

“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” Manny replied. “You two go up the back there,” he pointed, “and make sure to strap yourselves in.”

“Go on, Shelly,” Nella urged. 

Shelly nodded and made her way through the back entrance to the rows of harnessed seats. Shelly took one last look at the base behind them before following. She sighed to herself. They had only been here for a couple of days, but it had felt more like a home than most places they’d been in a long time. 

Nella was about to head up the ramp herself, when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. It was a dark, cloudy morning, but Nella was sure she had seen the shadow of a figure passing between buildings. Her heart pounded as she tried to listen for any sounds, but the jet’s whine was getting louder, which made it impossible to hear anything else. 

Nella leapt up into the back of the jet. She buckled herself in beside Shelly.

“What is it mom?”

“I’m not sure,” Nella replied.

There was a crackling in her ear as Manny’s voice came in over the radio.

“You ladies buckled in back there?”

“Yes,” Nella said. “I saw something on the tarmac, moving between buildings. It looked like a person.”

“Huh,” Manny said. “Wonder who that was. I told ATC I needed a clear field for takeoff. I’ll radio in and see what’s up.”

There was a low grumbling noise and a whirr as the back bay door rose up and clanked into place. The engines roared to life. Nella felt them rocking back and forth as the jet moved into position.

“I’m not getting any signal from base,” Manny said. “I might hold here just for a moment. Our runway looks clear for now, though. I - holy shi -”

The ground rocked. Nella and Shelly covered their ears was a boom rendered as the sound of an explosion ricocheted around the small cabin. 

“We’re under fire! I’m taking off, hold tight,” Manny yelled into the receiver.

The jet bucked under them as it quickly picked up speed. 

“Mommy!” Shelly cried.

Nella tried to reach her, to put an arm around her, but she was struggling against the gee force that Manny was placing on the jet to get it the hell out of there. She felt her stomach drop, and the jet stopped shaking as it lifted into the air and pitched upward into the sky. 

“What’s going on?” Nella shouted into her transceiver.

“No word from the base,” Manny said. “It looks like the main gate’s open. There’s people crawling all over the base. I hit - “ He stopped himself as he realized that Shelly was listening in to. “Shelly?”

“Yes?” Shelly said, voice small and twisted in fear.

“We’re going to be okay. We’re getting away from here as fast as we can.”

A second explosion rocked the cabin, and the plane began to bank to the right. 

“Manny?” Nella looked into the cockpit. All she could make out was a helmeted head, lolling from side to side.

_ We’re going down.  _

Nella’s eyes darted around the room. One one wall was a rank of guns. On the other, a storage bin full of fatigues that was sliding around the wall. On the last - 

Shelly unclipped herself from the harness and darted toward the package hanging from the wall.

“Mom!” Shelly screamed. “Come back!”

“Hold on baby,” Nella shouted. She grabbed the parachute, and unclipped it from the wall. She ran back to Shelly. She snapped open her daughter’s harness. 

“Grab tight on the straps,” Nella said as she slung the parachute around Shelly. 

“Mom, we can’t -”

“Listen.” Nella looked into Shelly’s eyes, cupping Shelly’s face in her hands. “You need to keep going. Find safety. Find daddy.”

“Mom, what about your parachute?”

With a couple of whoops, an uncaring female voice announced, “TERRAIN. PULL UP. PULL UP...”

Nella put her arms around Shelly, and held her close.

“There’s no time. I love you so much, baby.”

And with that, she mashed the button to open the cargo bay door.

The door opened within secons, and Shelly and Nella were flung out into the air. They were both screaming, but there was too much wind to hear. Nella grabbed the parachute string and pulled.

Shelly felt herself being tugged upward by the force of the parachute. She felt a bigger tug, and saw her mom falling into the barren forest below. She yelled after her, but no amount of words was going to bring her back.

The wind tugged and snapped at the ropes around her. Shelly grabbed onto the parachute with both hands when a brilliant light filled the sky. A heat wave followed, and she felt herself being flung back into the air as she saw a fireball lifting into the sky.

When she was able to open her eyes again, the trees seemed a lot closer. Shelly screamed again. She tugged on the cords, and the chute jerked to the left. Shelly tugged again, and angled the parachute. There was a dirty grey river snaking through the trees, and she angled herself towards it. The wind kept pulling her back. She pulled again, feeling the burn of the rope against her fingers.

Her legs hit the water first, and she felt her body being jerked forward. She plunged into the water head over heels, the impact jarring the breath out of her body. She scrabbled in the direction she felt was up, but there was so much canvas in the way, everywhere...

Shelly’s head broke the surface, and she wheezed in a breath of air that was laced with the water that had come in the intake valve of her maske. She coughed, ejecting the water. The parachute was acting as a half-submerged raft, and it held her up as she hacked and gasped and cried. 

“Mommy...”


	41. Chapter 40: Savages

Chapter Forty: Savages

Hayley stood on the ridge that sloped downward to the tree of souls. The incline was filled with the members of her clan - the clan of the Eastern Ikran.

She was surprised at how nervous she felt. But one thing she didn’t feel anymore was guilt. Her fluttering heart was as free as a bird.

Placing her feet among the gnarled roots, Hayley made her way through the crowd. They were plugged into the tree, but they still watched her go by, eyes half-glazed in the ecstasy of a hundreds-strong consciousness.

Onui’lk, Yorotei and Erluei were waiting for her at the base of the tree itself. Erluei was adorned in a complex bead tunic, with enormous feathers sprouting from the braids in his hair. His skin was crisscrossed with so much paint it reminded Hayley of Tseotoe from the Floating Mountain clan.

Erluei raised his staff over his head. Its’ beads clicked and swayed in the gentle wind.

“ _Begin.”_

The clan linked hands, and began to chant. A lone na’vi at the base of the tree began to drum out a low, booming beat that reverberated through the clearing.

As Hayley reached the tree, Onu descended to meet her. She looked deep into Hayley’s eyes, then traced the length of her body.

“ _I have seen this form of yours before,_ ” Onu said. “ _It feels like I am seeing it for the first time.”_

Hayley smiled. She felt so small and childlike in front of Onu in her human form. She reached out a hand touch Onu’s skin.

_“You feel the same,_ ” Hayley murmured.

Onu’s lips parted and her wide, white smile appeared.

Yorotei and Erluei parted, and Hayley came face to face with her avatar. It was like looking into a blue mirror. She felt a shiver run down her spine. Seeing her own face reflected in that alien body.

“ _Lie down here, Hailei,_ ” Yorotei advised. Hayley nodded, and did so. She felt the roughness of the earth and roots against her back at first, but then, she felt tiny soft bristles brushing up against her skin. Eywa’s tendrils were finding her.

She felt the tendrils gathering at the base of her skull, and a wave of nervousness washed over her again. _Wait...how are they going to access my brain?_ There was a painful prickling sensation which grew stronger and stronger. Hayley was about to cry out when the feeling subsided and all she could feel was a numb tickling. She felt like she ought to still be nervous, but somehow all her energy was fading away. She was so sleepy...

“ _Let go, Hailei,”_ Onu whispered, cupping her face with a large blue hand. Hayley closed her eyes. She saw a tunnel of sparkling light up ahead. Why couldn’t she breathe anymore?

There were voices - countless voices, in the air around her....

“I want to go back!”

“Where am I?”

“I want to see my son again...”

_You’re safe,_ Hayley wanted to cry out to them. _But you can never go back..._

Then - a ring of blue light coalesced in the electric chaos surrounding her. It was disorienting - with no body, how was she able to see?

 

 

  * __You wish to pass through me, to your dreamwalking body.__


  * _Yes, mother,_ Hayley replied.


  * _Two others of your kind have come before me. One lives with me now. The other lives on with Mo’at’s clan._


  * _What is your plan for me?_ Hayley asked.


  * _Kill her,_ a familiar voice emerged from the shadows.



 

What...

 

  * __That bitch helped bring us down._ Hayley recognized the voice as the dead commander._


  * _I destroyed you because you were threatening the balance,_ Eywa retorted. Hayley felt herself flare with rage.


  * _KILL HER!_ Quartich raged.


  * _I will keep the balance,_ Eywa said, voice fanter now.



 

Veins of ice shot through her rage, and Hayley felt disjointed.

  * _No_ , Augustine yelled.



Hayley flew through the ring and back into the wire. Lights and impulses streamed all around her.

She slammed into her avatar body. Gasping for air, she blinked, trying to bring the world into sharper focus.

“ _Hailei, are you all right?_ ” Onu said.

“ _I felt it too,_ ” Erluei said solemnly. “ _Ewya is fighting within herself._ ”

“ _It was Quartich,_ ” Hayley said. Her voice was faint. Onu leaned in, stroking her hair.

“ _Who is Quartich?_ ”

“ _He was the man who lead the human war against the na’vi,_ ” Hayley replied.

Onu frowned in concern.

“ _He is threatening Eywa’s balance,”_ Erluei said.

“ _I can go back in,_ ” Hayley said. _“Maybe I can fight him..._ ”

“ _No, Hailei,”_ Onu said. “ _Focus on gaining your strength._ ”

“ _Look!_ ” A voice shouted from the crowd. Hayley leaned her head over to see a massive....flapping black shadow.

“ _Toruk Makto!_ ” another shouted.

“ _Hailei, do not get up so quickly!_ ” Onu cautioned. Hayley promptly ignored her. She scrambled to her feet, stumbling as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

It was Jake. What was he doing here? Then, Hayley felt a new wave of irritation. What was he doing crashing her ceremony? _What the hell?_

The members of the Ikran clan parted like a wave, and Jake moved through them all. Hayley felt the pit of her stomach drop when she realized that he was outfitted in his battle regalia. His hair was braided into a mohawk that coursed down his back like a horses’ mane, while the sides of his head were shaved bare.

“ _Hello Chief Jakesully,_ ” Yototei said, opening his arms wide. “ _What brings you to the tree of souls at this time?”_

“ _Though the hour is late, it is an hour of need_ ,” Jake said. “ _The humans are mining again. They have violated the terms of our treaty._ ”

Onu looked back to Hayley.

“ _Is that true?_ ”

_Oh, shit._

“ _Yes,_ ” Hayley gulped. “ _It is. But they are mining because if they do not mine, they will die._ ”

Jake locked eyes with her, his eyebrows raised. “ _That is no excuse for murdering Eywa. Our people did not die for this to happen._ ” He turned back to Yorotei. “ _That is why I am asking for your clan’s help in going to war again._ ”

“What the fuck, Jake!” Hayley burst out, she stumbled a bit, and Onu went to prop her up. “You’re going to kill the humans!? They helped fight for you. You’ve given them a death sentence if you don’t let them mine even a little unobtanium!”

“Hayley,” Jake snapped, “I thought you’d be different, now that you’ve finally decided to be one of us. You know the humans and na’vi can’t live together.”

“Actually Jake, I see no reason why not,” Hayley said. “They’re not going far. They need time to grow more avatar bodies, to do research on the recent biomechanic integrations - “

“No.” Jake shook his head. “That’s what the humans do. They take, and take, and take. The humans were doomed far before you or I even landed here. They’re NOT taking us down with them.”

“ _Jake,_ ” Yorotei interrupted. “ _Hailei has spoken to us about the humans mining somewhere that does not hurt Eywa so that they might live._ ”

“ _That will not work,_ ” Jake replied. “ _The machines of the humans create poison in the air. And there is nowhere that Eywa does not live._ ”

“ _That is not true,_ ” Erluei said. “ _I do not know about the human’s poison. But there is a place Eywa does not live._ ”

The all turned to Erluei.

“ _That place is legend,_ ” Yorotei said.

“ _The legend is true,_ ” Erluei said. “ _We will speak on it later. Jake, you are full of rage to think clearly. I agree with Hayley. We need more time to find a way for both the humans and the na’vi to live together._ ”

Jake shook his head in disbelief. He looked down to the ground, for just a moment. Then, he squared his shoulders again, pointing to Hayley without looking at her.

“ _This woman has lied to you. Her loyalty is divided. The humans will never stop until every planet is dead. I warn you not to be on the wrong side when the battle comes._ ”

With that, Jake made his way back through the crowd, swung himself back onto the toruk, and launched into the sky with an ear-splitting roar.

“ _Erluei?_ ” Yorotei said at last. “ _You must guide us. The Omaticaya are preparing for war._ ” He looked over at Hayley. _“That you passed through the eye of Eywa tonight is evidence enough for me that you are Eastern Ikran clan, deep at heart._ ” He stepped closer, and put his hand on her shoulder. “ _I can not believe that you and Jake lived on the same planet and that he lacks any compassion for his own kind, as you do. I have seen the Earth in your mind. The humans made a grave error, and those who had evil hearts brought the planet to ruin. People like your Quartich, who now lives within Eywa. But there are people like YOU, Hayley. And they fought for THIS planet. And they deserve to be protected. They deserve a place within the balance._ ”

“ _What are we going to do?_ ” Hayley said, blinking away tears. Yorotei’s compassion, as always, caught her off guard. _All this understanding, for a lowly human like me. Or am I anymore?_

“ _We will defend ourselves, and the humans, if Jake decides to go through with his foolish decision,_ ” Yorotei said, loud enough for the rest of the clan gathered at the tree to hear. One voice, then another, then dozens, then hundreds were raised in whoops and ululations.

“ _We will not let our last leader’s death be meaningles_ s!” Yorotei shouted out, and the crowd swelled. Yorotei turned to Onu. _“We should send an emissary to the mountain clan_.”

Onu nodded. “ _I will go. But someone must check on Hailei as she recovers._ ”

“ _I’m fine!_ ” Hayley exclaimed. “ _I can go with you._ ”

Yorotei nodded. “ _Good. Erluei and I will go with the rest of the clan and discuss what our plan should be, should Jake become violent._ ”

“ _Chief,_ ” Hayley asked, “ _Do you think it would be wise to send messengers to the neighboring clans as well? If Jake is planning on speaking with them, we should make our case as well._ ”

“ _Agreed_ ,” Yorotei said. He gave her a nod of approval. “ _In fact...Hayley, it might be better for you to send word to the humans. Tell them to meet us at our village in the morning. They must know what coming._ ”

_“Jake has spoken to them already_ ,” Hayley replied, “ _But they will not know yet that he is attempting to rally the clans._ ”

“ _Then it is settled,_ ” Yorotei said. “ _Go, Onu and Hailei. I will send the rest of the messengers. And Hailei,_ ” he said, giving her a pat on the back, _“Welcome, again, to the clan._ ”

“ _Thank you, Chief_ ,” Hayley replied. Together, Hayley and Onu ran through the crowd, which had risen to their feet and were making preparations to leave.

“C’mon, Dagger!”

“ _Eskareil!”_

The two ikran swooped down. Hayley jumped on hers.

“ _How does it feel?_ ” Onu asked.

“ _How does what feel?_ ”

“ _To have one body,_ ” Onu smiled, patting Eskareil as he bucked beneath her.

“ _It feels..._ ” Hayley thought about it. “ _I think having one heart feels the best of all._ ”

“ _I knew you would say that_ ,” Onu said with a laugh. “ _Be home by morning?_ ”

“ _Of course,_ ” Hayley replied, blowing her a kiss. Onu caught it as they launched into the air, rising among the rest of their clan as they headed in their respective directions.

* * *

 

_\- Why does she get to live, while I rot in this miserable hell?_

_\- The same reason you died. You picked the wrong side._

_\- Oh yeah? And what side was that, sweetheart? You mean the side with the humans? You mean the humans who are coming here, more and more, every day?_

_\- Eywa will not doom the planet to try and save the humans. She’s doing the best she can, which is bringing them here, now. Don’t take this out on those that tried to stop you, Quaritch._

_\- Here’s something you need to realize, Grace. This planet is made up of all the minds that are inside it. When it was made of na’vi, it cared about the na’vi. But now, it’s made of humans and human tech too, and it sure as hell cares about us. And if it cares about us, it cares about what we want. And it cares more and more every day. I can feel it._

* * *

 

Even though she had just been at the base this morning, it looked foreign to Hayley as she coasted over the walls of Hell’s Gate to the sick bay doors. She was hoping that they hadn’t re-pressurized the cabin, and her suspicions were proven right.

  * Don’t go far, she told Dagger.



Hayley dismounted. She walked through rows of beds and plinths, IVs and crash carts. A medical drone flew up to her and gave her a thorough inspection. Then, it hovered away, going about its’ incomprehensible business.

The airlock door on the far wall opened up, and a masked Lucas walked in.

“Congratulations, Hayley. Looks like the consciousness transfer was successful.”

“Thank you, sir,” she replied.

Lucas laughed at this. It took Hayley by surprise. She’d never heard him laugh before.

“I’m not your superior anymore,” he said, shaking his head. “You can call me Matt.”

“Matt,” Hayley said, the word feeling wrong in her mouth. She knelt down to meet him in the eye, tail swaying for balance. “Thanks for everything.”

Dr. Lucas shrugged. “It was my job. So have you come to say goodbye?”

“Not exactly. It’s about Jake.”

“Hmm...is he going to attack the base?”

Hayley nodded. “I think so. He came to see the Eastern Ikran clan during my trial through the eye of Eywa. He asked us to fight against the humans.”

“And?”

“What?” Hayley asked.

“Did your clan agree to fight us?” Lucas asked.

“What - no!” Hayley exclaimed. “They agreed to the humans partitioning some land for mining on their territory, didn’t they? The chief - Yorotei - he’s on our side. He’s trying to support us. Our shaman Erluei even mentioned a place where Eywa doesn’t live, where the humans might be able to go until they can become one with the na’vi. I wanted to warn you, and to also let you know that we’re trying to contact the other clans in case Jake does decide to move ahead with his plans.”

Dr. Lucas reached out. He placed one of his small hands over top hers. “If things were different, I’d be congratulating you on a successful mission. As it stands, I want to thank you as a friend, for convincing your people that humanity is worth saving.”

Hayley nodded. “Thank you..Matt. I...” she pursed her lips. “If I were you, I would think about doing a permanent consciousness transfer yourself, before things start getting tense.”

Lucas shook his head. “No, Hayley. I still have a job to lead this place. But thank you for coming. I’ll give you some throat mikes, so that we can keep in touch. We’ll do what we can to keep this fight going for our own lives.”


	42. Chapter 41: Find

Chapter Forty-One: Find

“Sir.”

“Yes?” Boers replied. He realized that he has been starting at the same line on his tablet for the past few minutes. He swiveled around in his chair to see Fern clutching her own tablet with blanched fingers.

“Commander Garcia...his jet went down just a few kilometres off from the base.”

For a moment, Boers didn’t know who she was talking about. Garcia...Manuel Garcia...

... _ Manny. _

“What? How did it happen?” Boers asked her.

“The president is asking for an investigation. The Tyson complex has gone dark. If you come with me, sir, the others have gathered together to figure out what our next steps are.”

Boers nodded, and rose to his feet.  _ Who could have possibly shot him down? And so close to the base? _

Fern lead Boers down a series of hallways, until Boers stopped dead in his tracks.

“Sir?”

“Who was on his jet.”

Fern’s eyes went wide. “I..don’t know - “

“Yes you do,” Boers snapped. “You’re hiding something. I’m going to ask again, Genever. Who was on that jet?”

“Your family,” Fern whispered. “I’m sorry, sir. But there’s still a chance that they may be alive. You  _ have  _ to come with me, please...”

But Boers wasn’t listening. He was gripping onto the railing as hard as he could while his knees were threatening to buckle under him. His mind was an excruciatingly white blank.

“Sir...” 

Through the fog, thoughts started to slide in, swimming around him. 

_ They were in the base, and I was here... _

_ Why didn’t I go to them right away? _

_ We were so close... _

_ You need to pull it together, you're a commander and your team needs you. _

_ What was that Fern said? _

“You...you said that it’s not confirmed that my family was killed in the crash?”

Fern’s eyes darted around the corridor as if someone was watching them. She leaned in.

“The others know what’s going on at the base. I can’t talk about it here.”

Somehow they made their way into a small conference room where the others - Sula, Jim and Ali - were seated. Boers dimly registered their looks of concern.

“Commander,” Sula said. “Please sit down. Fern, close the door.”

Boers slumped into a chair. 

“How much have you told him?” Sula asked Fern.

“He wanted to know about the plane crash,” Fern replied.

“Like Fern told you, we think someone survived the crash,” Sula said to Boers. 

“How?” Boers asked.

“Do you mean, how do we know?” Sula replied. “Dawson’s crew were able to contact a satellite over the area. There’s a lot of cloud cover right now, but there was a signal, somewhere close to the San Antonio Reservoir.”

Boers let a stream of air out. 

“I need to go find them.”

“We know,” Sula said. “And we want to help you. But it’s going to be difficult to get you off the base.”

“Why is that?” Boers asked, a bit incredulously.

“We’ve been talking with the president’s aides,” Jim said. “Someone let slip about the Pandora project after I noticed something was odd with their software systems in the lower levels.”

“We were able to find out about the re-terraforming project,” Ali said. “There are a number of people on staff who oppose the project. People with families who are still out there, somewhere.”

“Or people who weren’t lucky enough to win the million-dollar blue-skinned prize,” Jim scoffed.

“So we’re going to get you out of here,” Sula said, with finality.

“Dawson’s not going to let me leave, is she?” Boers realized with a growing sense of dread in his chest. “She spent all that money on growing an avatar for me. There’s no way she intended to let me out of the base.”

Jim nodded. “You’re right. None of us are supposed to be leaving this compound, especially now with the attack on the Tyson complex. There’s a way though. You may not like it, but it’s possible.”

“I’m listening,” Boers heard himself reply.

“Next time you transfer your consciousness,” Fern explained, “You’re going to have to disable the failsafe. It kills the link if anything threatens the synchronization process.”

“So what will happen then?” 

“If you desynchronize, your avatar will continue to function.”

“God,” Boers said. He was starting to remember. The early days...the pilot project he participated in. A terrified scientist, staring at himself in na’vi form as the team struggled to sync them back together again. The flash of a rifle as a pleading blue-skinned man told them he didn’t want to die.

They had programmed the failsafe very quickly after that. He hadn’t known that it was even possible to disable it.

“Once you’ve desynced, your copy can distract the president in your na’vi form while you escape. There’s a fully fueled jeep near the bottom of the base, waiting to go.” Sula said, placing a hand on his shoulder briefly.

“Is anyone else coming with me?” Boers asked. “Are any of you coming?”

Fern shook her head. “Our best chance is to stay here. If the re-terraforming process completes, none of us have anywhere else to go, really. I guess that’s why the president asked you to bring a larger party. She wanted us to live, to assist in the project.”

“Live, at least for now,” Jim said.

“Jim, that’s enough,” Sula snapped. “We’ve put an oxygen mask and real-time scrubber in there. There’s at least a month of battery life in it.”

“I...” Boers wanted time, but there was no time. He wanted another choice, but it seemed like there was no other choice. This was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. The ticket out. He’d be able to escape and there’d be no trace of him.

_ As long as he was the one that was escaping.  _ What about the part of him that he was leaving behind?

“I’ll do it.”

He tried not to look at Ali, who had silent tears dripping down her face. Sula just looked at him. He wanted to hug her, but his arms felt like lead.

“Let’s go,” Sula said.

* * *

When she woke up, there was barely any light in the clouded night sky.

Shelly, disoriented, turned over onto her back. Her muscles were sore and stiff from sleeping on the rocks near the river’s edge. She was hungry, and cold. The night air was mild, but her clothes were still wet, as was the parachute she’d wrapped herself in.

What had woken her up? Still groggy, she looked around. 

“Mom?” Where was she? Then she remembered...

Shelly started to cry. She tried to stay quiet by burying her head into the parachute. It hadn’t felt real, seeing her mother flung away from her as they shot into the open air. 

_ Maybe she was somewhere in the forest, trying to find her... _

There was a flashlight, visible off in the distance between the black columns of trees. 

“Mom!” Shelly cried out. She scrabbled her way out of the cocoon of her parachute, and before she knew it, she was stumbling towards the source of the light. As she drew closer, she could see the light brightening...and then another flared into view.

_ Wait... _ Shelly screeched to a halt. Was it mom if there were two flashlights?

“Hello?” A strange voice called out. “Is someone there?”

The girl ducked behind a tree.

“Could have sworn I heard someone. Donna, did you hear it?”

“I think so, Ray. Hon, it’s okay to come out. We’re not gonna hurt you.” A pause, and then... “god damn, Ray, why d’you have to tell them to shoot the plane down with a little girl on it?”

“I didn’t know, Donna! How many military bases are housing children, for chrissake?”  
Shelly thought about burying herself into the leaves, but it would make too much noise. The twin flashlights swayed around her as the man and woman continued to bicker.

“I’m getting real tired of shoot first, ask questions later. There’s been enough killing, Ray.”

“Tell that to those sons of bitches who let us starve on the other side of the wall for months.”

_ It was the people who had the campfire.  _ They hadn’t been hurting anybody - at least, until they shot the plane down with Manny and mom in it, Shelly thought. Maybe she’d been wrong to want to try and save them.

She jumped as a twig snapped beside her. There was a flashlight in her face, blinding her.

“I found her!” Ray exclaimed with delight. He was in his mid-forties, dressed in overalls, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap. The opposite of what Shelley thought a killer would look like. She could only look at him with wide eyes, hoping that he wasn’t going to hurt her.

Donna jogged over and came into the light herself. She seemed to be about the same age, though it was hard to tell. Her brown straight hair was peppered with white strands. She had a kind face. She was looking at Shelly almost in the same way her mom did.

“Oh hon,” Donna said. Her eyes started to go red. “I’m so sorry. You must be so scared...”

“Is your momma around?” Ray asked, gesturing with the flashlight.

“Mom didn’t have a parachute,” Shelly said.

“Oh god...” Donna turned her face away from the light.

Ray got down on his hands and knees. “What’s your name, girl?”

“I’m...” she was too stunned, and tired, and hungry, to think of another name. “I’m Michelle.”

“Michelle Boers?”

“Mhm,” Shelly nodded.

“Well, Michelle,” Ray continued, “There’s been a terrible accident, but we’re so glad that we found you. We can take you back to the base, where you’ll be safe.”

“I want my dad.”

“Sure, sweetheart. We can get him on videocom as soon as we’re back.”

Shelly stood her ground.

“Why did you shoot the plane?”

Ray’s mouth made a hard line. “Hon...we thought the plane had bad guys in it. But we were wrong. We want to make it right now.”

Donna, wiping her eyes, came back and knelt beside Shelly. “It’s not going to be safe for much longer in these woods,” she said. “The air is going to change so that we can’t breathe it. We need to get out of here.”

Shelly knew about that. Her mom had told her. There was too much pollution. She nodded quietly, two fresh tears coming down her face.

Ray reached out with his hand, and Shelly took it.

Their jeep was parked fairly close by, on a dirt road that cut through the conservation area that she had landed in. Shelly stopped in her tracks.

“What about mom?”

Ray and Donna looked at each other.

“Some of our other friends are still looking for her,” Ray said. “Your mom would want you to be safe. She wouldn’t want you wandering around in the woods at night.”

Shelly took one last look at the inky depths of the forest, then climbed into the jeep. Donna climbed into the driver’s seat and shut the door, while Ray took the passenger side.

“You have to find her.” Shelly said quietly. “Promise.”

“We promise we will,” Donna said. Ray shot her a look, then she hit him lightly in the arm. She slipped the key into the ignition, and they were off. They went slow, tires crunching on the gravel of the dirt road.

“Hold on Donna!” Ray shouted, and Donna slammed the break. Shelly felt her chest push up against the seatbelt. After a minute, she realized that she’d been screaming. Again.

The car lights illuminated a black bear that was standing in the middle of the road. Its eyes were two large, glossy stones. It snuffled at them.

“I thought they’d gone extinct,” Donna whispered.

Shelly looked into the creature’s eyes. It pawed the ground, then bounded off into the forest as quickly as it had come. 

They pulled up in front of the gate, which opened seamlessly for them as they drove through. Donna parked in front of the building Shelly had left only that very morning.

“Let’s go,” Donna said.

After a brief chat with the viewscreen in front of the building, Donna, Ray and Shelly made their way into the main base and back down the elevator shaft. 

“Can I talk to daddy now?” Shelly said.

“Well,” Donna said, “We don’t know if you’re hurt. You fell a long way, even with a parachute. Maybe we should go to see our doctor first.”

“I really want to talk to him,” Shelly insisted.

“Let her talk to him,” Ray chimed in.

“I know, Ray,” Donna said. “Michelle...you can talk to your daddy, but we need to get him on the line first. Can Ray take you to the clinic room while I get him on videoconference?”

Shelly nodded.

The doors at the base of the elevator shaft  _ wooshed _ open. Ray took Shelly’s hand, and they turned to the left down another series of corridors.

“Tom’s real good at fixing people up. You’ll be better in no time.”

“How did you fight all the bad guys to get here?” Shelly asked. “Mom and I had to - mom had to shoot people. Did you shoot people too?”

Ray nodded. “The way I see it, Michelle, is that there are no good and bad guys. Only people who’re scared. Scared people make mistakes, like we did.”

“But...” Shelly said, “Once you find mom, you can fix your mistake and be the good guys again.”

Ray nodded, blinking hard. “Yeah, hon, of course.”

The clinic room was small - only a few beds. Supplies littered the cupboards and walls, as if the place had been searched. 

“You found her!” A young man with short black hair and eyes beamed. “Hi, there, I’m Tom. I’m a med student - or I used to be before the riots.”

“I’m Shelly,” she said quietly.

“I’ll leave you two here for now,” Ray said, “while I catch up with Donna. I’ll be back for you soon.”

Ray patted Shelly on the back, then disappeared through the hallway.

“Why don’t you get up on one of these beds and I can check to see if you have any cuts or bruises,” Tom said. “I heard you took a nasty fall.”

“Tom,” Shelly said, “Are you a good guy or a bad guy?”

The question took Tom aback.

“I’m a good guy...why do you ask?”

“Because,” Shelly said, “I need your help.”


	43. Chapter 42: Tonight

Chapter Forty-Two: Online

Hayley and Dagger skidded into a rough landing near the Eastern Ikran shore. 

  * Go on - I won’t be riding until tomorrow at the earliest, Hayley told her mount.
  * Do you think there is going to be fighting? Dagger asked.
  * Probably, Hayley thought. 
  * It has been a while since I last hunted a na’vi prey, Dagger replied.



Hayley delinked, gave Dagger an appreciative pat on the snout, and headed into the village. As she walked through, many of the villagers acknowledged her, and she smiled and greeted them in return. She made her way over to the main bonfire that was burning in the centre of the village. Yorotei, Erluei and Onu were sitting among a few others that Hayley didn’t recognize. Onu gave her a knowing smile. Yorotei nodded at her as she took as seat by the fire.

“ _ How did the meeting with the humans go? _ ”

“ _ Dr. Lucas knows what is coming, and he will be mobilizing his forces. What about the others? _ ”

“ _ The mountain clan is ready to fight, _ ” Onu said. 

_ “Sadly, the horse clan is on Jake’s side, _ ” said another male na’vi.

“ _ That’s still three against two, _ ” Hayley said. “ _ The odds seem good. _ ”

Erluei shook his head. “ _ It is a shame. Our clans are already weakened by the previous battle. There are too many little ones, and not enough warriors. _ ”

Hayley heard shouting coming from the far end of the village.

“ _ What is that? _ ” Yorotei asked.

Hayley and Onu both rose to their feet, and followed Yorotei as he ran towards the sound.

“ _ It is the Omaticaya! _ ” someone exclaimed as they drew nearer to the source of the commotion.

“ _ Who -  _ “ Hayley burst through the crowd that had formed, to see two figures standing in the middle of a circle of na’vi.

“Hey Hayley,” Norm said, with a small smile.

“Norm!” Hayley ran to him, and they embraced. The other female stiffened.

“Norm...what are you doing here?” Hayley asked.

“Hayley, Jake is getting out of control,” Norm said. “Ninat and I came here to warn you. He’s going to attack Hell’s Gate at dawn.”

_ “Why did you come here? _ ” Yorotei asked.  _ “You are of Jake’s clan. _ ”

“Yorotei is our chief,” Hayley explained.

“ _ Chief Yorotei, _ ” Norm said, “ _ I have come here after having to make a difficult choice with my friendship with Jake Sully. Jake is not seeing things clearly. He is not seeing the forest for the trees. _ ”

Yorotei nodded.

“ _ We are aware. Jake does not understand that Eywa does not favour one life over another. Ewya keeps the balance only. _ ”

“ _ Norm has told me that Jake intends to attack the humans tomorrow at dawn, _ ” Hayley related.

` “ _I will send new messengers and tell them to rally,_ ” Yorotei said. “ _Hayley, Norm..._ ”

“ _ I am Ninat, _ ” Ninat introduced herself.

“ _ Ninat...welcome, _ ” Yorotei greeted her. “ _ You are welcome among us. If you can fight, we would like you to fight alongside us. _ ”

Norm nodded. “ _ Of course, chief. _ ”

With that, Yorotei merged back into the crow, to give his orders and to prepare.

“ _ Norm, Ninat...please come to our dwelling, _ ” Hayley said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” Norm said as they walked through the huts and cooking fires that illuminated the darkening night.

“Yeah,” Hayley said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Are you and Ninat...”

“ _ Yes, we are mated for life, _ ” Ninat said proudly.

“Well, congratulations, Hayley said. “Onu and I...”

Norm raised his eyebrows. “Wait, you mean...”

Ninat laughed. “ _ What is so surprising about Hailei and Onu, Norm? Have you not seen female and male only mates before? _ “

“ _ Well I mean at home... _ ” Norm stumbled over his words. “ _ I didn’t know the na’vi could...and Hayley, I thought you liked... _ ”

“ _ Well I like men too, _ ” Hayley said. “ _ It just happened. The way love does. _ ”

It was Onu’s turn to laugh.

“ _ Of course, my desires and plans had nothing to do with it, _ ” she said mischievously. She then shook her head. “ _ It is a shame that Jake made the decision he made. _ ”

“ _ I agree, _ ” Norm said to Onu. “ _ Jake and I became friends over the time that we were dreamwalkers. But he is grieving badly. I know that he hated his life as a human...I think he wants to get away with everything it means to be human. _ ”

“ _ And do you want to get away from being a human? _ ” Onu asked.

“ _ I didn’t mind being a human, _ ” Norm said.  “ _ I still am a human. I’m part human, part na’vi. I know I am both, an I am fine with that. _ ”

Hayley nodded. She knew what that was like....although Norm seemed more comfortable than she was integrating those halves of herself.

“ _ You can sleep in our shelter tonight, _ ” Hayley said. “ _ I don’t think we will get much sleep, but just in case. When this is said and done, you and Ninat can integrate more into the clan itself. _ ”

“ _ Thank you, Hayley, _ ” Ninat said.

Norm and Ninat crawled inside Hayley and Onu’s shelter. It would be a tight fit, but the four of them should be able to get some sleep in there tonight. Onu paused at the shelter’s entrance.

“ _ Hailei? _ ” Onu said, placing a hand on her back.

“ _ Yes? _ ” Hayley smiled at her.

“ _ Can I speak with you before we sleep? _ ”

“ _ Of course, _ ” Hayley replied. 

Onu took them to the shoreline. Hayley looked over the edge. In the light of the planet Prometheus, sapphire waves boomed along the shore down below. Hayley wondered if, in the reduced gravity, she could dive all the way down into the waves. 

Hayley’s mate sat on the grass, and she followed. Onu drew her into an embrace from behind, so that they were both looking out at the night sea.

“ _ Tomorrow is going to be a difficult day. _ ”

“ _ I know, _ ” Hayley said. “ _ I’ve been trying not to think about it too much. _ ”

“ _ Will you fight? _ ” Onu asked. Hayley could feel Onu’s chin on her own shoulder.

“ _ Of course, _ ” Hayley said.

The prickling in the back of her mind came on unexpectedly. Onu’s presence flooded into her own.

 

  * __If the battle goes poorly,_ they thought together, _we will go to Eywa together. I don’t want to live without you.__



* * *

 

 

Li fidgeted in the uncomfortable metal folding chairs they’d set out in the main lobby of the building. He looked around the room. Almost everyone still working on the base was there, having filtered in after dinner in the cafeteria. They all filled three-quarters of the room. Maybe.

“I wouldn’t have asked you all to meet me here outside of working hours unless it was an emergency,” Dr. Lucas said. “We have a situation on our hands. Jake and the Omaticaya are planning to attack us tomorrow morning.”

The shock that rippled through the room was audible. Li could hear a couple of people start to cry softly.

“We’re going to fight, but we’re not going to fight alone,” Lucas continued. “The Eastern Ikran clan is with us, and they’ve sent word to the other clans as well.”

Another ripple of murmurs went though the crowd. Lucas held up a hand, and eventually the noise subsided.

“I know not all of you who stayed are military-trained, but we need as many people as possible on the ground and in the air. I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but this fight isn’t about the na’vi’s lives this time. It’s about our own.”

He paused, his grizzled chin in one hand, thinking. Then, he adjusted his glasses, and looked out into the crowd again.

“Get some rest for now. But I need everyone up at 0500 hours,” he paused again, searching for the right words to say. “We belong here, too. Let’s show Jake what that means.”

Stunned, Li, rose from his chair. He thought for a minute about walking up to Lucas, asking him what the fuck was going on, what could possibly have caused this, but he wasn’t the first person with that idea. Lucas was getting swamped right now with angry, confused people. Then he thought about talking to Hayley, and then cursed himself.  _ Stupid.  _ Her humanity was six feet under ground by now.

Li made his way down the halls to his room without thinking about it. Closing the door behind him, he booted up his computer. His breathing grew faster and faster.

CONFIRM...YOU WANT TO MAKE CONNECTION WITH: HINOEMATA REFUGEE CAMP?

“Yes,” Li said insistently.

ATTEMPTING CONNECTION...

...

...

ATTEMPTING CONNECTION...

...

...

ATTEMPTING CONNECTION...

...

Static bloomed into the screen with a hiss.

Li squinted, bringing his eyes as close to the screen as he could. It didn’t seem like there was anybody there.

“Kon'nichiwa?  Dare ka soko ni imasu ka?”  _ Hello? Is there anyone there? _

A pixelated face, barely illuminated, game into view.

“ _ Hello? _ ”

“ _ Hi! _ ” Li exclaimed. “ _ Hi there - I’m looking for Mr. and Mrs. Siyu. Are they still there? _ ”

The face disappeared. Li realized that he was gripping the sides of the screen with his hands. He pried his fingers off the screen and folded them into his lap.

“Li?”

In the poor video feed, their gaunt faces looked like ghosts. 

“Okaa-san! O...oto-san!” Li yelled.

“ _ Don’t cry, son, _ ” Li’s father said with a thin voice.

“ _ We’re so happy that you’re safe and well on Pandora, _ ” said Li’s mother.

“ _ Are you alright? _ ” Li asked, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “ _ I tried to call, I kept calling, but no one answered. _ ”

“ _ We’re fine _ ,” Li’s mother reassured him. “ _ It’s been hard, living in the refugee camp. But we’ve been scrounging fuel to keep the radio and video transmitter on. We heard a few days ago that the president of the United States is doing something to fix the pollution and help everyone. _ ”

“ _ That’s - that’s incredible news! _ ” Li said. “ _ Did she say anything about the energy problem? _ ”

“ _ She said that they are working to fix to the energy problem too, _ ” Li’s father said.

Li couldn’t find words for a moment. His parents were still alive. Then, the president of the US had found a solution to the pollution and energy crises...that meant... _ I could be able to come home after all. I can see them again. _

“ _ If the energy crisis is solved, _ ” I can come back home,” Li said. “ _ That is...if you want me to. _ ”

His parents didn’t skip a beat.

“ _ Siyu... _ ” his mother said. “ _ Of course we want you to come home. You’re welcome here. _ ”

Li felt the tears well up hard behind his eyelids...but he wasn’t going to break down. Not in front of them.

“ _ Thank you, _ ” he replied.

* * *

 

Lucas made his way among the vegetation patches and rows of plants in the outdoor avatar compound. He stopped for a moment and ground his azure feet into the ground, marvelling at the coolness of the silken earth. His feet were lit up with small bioluminescent pinpricks of light.

He took in a deep breath of Pandoran air, let it out.

_ I tried my best, Grace. _

He kept walking, his eyes fixated on the tree in the centre of the compound.

_ Once the RDA left, I knew I had work to do. I had to continue your project - your legacy. _

Lucas knelt by the tree and reached for his braid. His eyes dilated as he plunged into the link. 

 

  * __Grace, are you there?__


  * _Yes Matthew, I’m here. We’re here._


  * _I need your help again. Jake is going to attack us tomorrow. What should I do?_


  * _I can’t tell you._


  * _What?_



 

Lucas had never received this response from Grace before. Granted, most of his questions had been about xenobiology and its’ applications to solving the energy crisis, not how to fight a war. But still...

 

  * __Jake hasn’t spoken to us in a long time. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I do know that you’re hurting Eywa again, Matt.__


  * _I had to. We were running out of fuel, out of energy. I needed more time._



 

He sensed that she...they...were resigned. Tired.

 

  * __I know. And we know that the balance is important. Balancing human lives with those of the rest of this world is so difficult.__


  * _What will you do tomorrow?_ Lucas asked.


  * _What do you mean?_


  * _During the fight for the tree of voices, you stepped into help us. Why did you do that? What made you feel like we were worth fighting for that time?_


  * _We wanted the people who were going to completely destroy and strip-mine Pandora to leave._


  * _And this time?_


  * _Matt...I’m sorry, but I’m not going to tell you what I’m going to do. There are a lot of variables to weigh, and I don’t know what’s going to happen in the morning. You should stop fighting, but I know that telling you that isn’t going to make things stop. Eywa isn’t an ally to call upon to solve a fight. All she cares about is preserving the balance of life, and finding ways to make it easier to do so._



 

Lucas almost ripped his queue out of the ground. He felt himself snap back through the wire as his tendrils disconnected. For a moment, he looked up at the sky. Through the clouds, he could see the outline of Polyphemus, and the tiny moons suspended in front of it. 

_ I guess this is better than court martial and a prison sentence, going out with a view like this. _

  
  



	44. Chapter 43: Reunion

Chapter Forty-Three: Reunion

Boers gripped the steering wheel, blinking in the early morning light. He’d pulled off to the side of the highway only once, in the middle of the night, when he’d thought if he kept going he would pass out and ram into a guardpost. He’d seen only a handful of people on the road on those long hours of driving. He’d thought about flashing his high beams or honking at them, as an invitation to pull over.

In the fantasy he’d had in his mind as he drove down the road, he would get out of his car, walk over to the other person, and introduce himself. He’d ask them where they were going, and write down the address. He’d say, “When this shitshow is over, I’ll come find you. We’ll find each other and we’ll band together and make a new society out of the ashes of this godforsaken civilization.”

But he didn’t stop, because he knew it was far more likely that he’d have his head blown off with a sawed-off shotgun.

The sign for the turn-off was hanging slightly askew:

 

TYSON SCIENTIFIC COMPLEX

23 Miles

 

As he drove the last few miles, he went over the plan again. 

From what he knew, someone had taken over the complex. He didn’t know if the group was friendly to the military or government - he was guessing, not friendly. They may have his daughter or wife, or neither.

If they had his family, he would negotiate. If they didn’t, he would at least try and understand what the hell they wanted.

Boers turned onto the road leading up to the complex. He killed the engine fifty yards from the entrance. He slowly opened the door and stepped out with his hands up. He walked toward the gate, heart hammering in his chest.

_ Don’t shoot, don’t shoot. _

Unless there was something wrong with the video screen, he knew that they would be watching him now. It didn’t take them long to respond. A man in overalls holding an AK-47 strode up to the gate.

“What’re you doing here?”

“I’m Conrad Boers,” he replied.  
“Shit!” the man replied. “I’ll let you in. But you gotta tell me you’re not going to start any shit.”

“No problem,” Boers said. “I just want to see my family.”

The man paused for a moment.

“Your daughter’s missed you.”

“Then let me see her,” Boers said icily.

“Alright,” Ray replied. “Bring the car in.”

The gates slid open with a whine and a screech as old gears turned on a motor running on its’ last dregs.

Conrad guided the car through the gate. Ray, still holding the gun, hopped into the passenger seat.

“It’s probably better if you park this thing in the main hangar.”

“Got it,” Boers replied.

“How did you get out?” Ray asked, turning his head to look at Boers from his spot in the car.

“Long story,” Boers said. “Why‘d you take over the base?”

“Long story,” Ray echoed. He flicked the safety on the gun. “Look, let’s make a deal. You seem like an alright guy, and I’m not one for going in guns blazing. I’m tired of that shit. We saved your daughter. Just tell me you’re not with the government.”

“I’m not,” Boers said, moving hand over hand through a tight turn between buildings. “I mean, I was. But I heard about what Dawson was planning, and- “

“Dawson!?” Ray exclaimed. “The president’s alive?” He hit the dashboard with a closed fist. “God damn, I knew it. That bitch had the nerve to keep radio silence all these months...”

“She thought she was doing the right thing,” Boers said, “She’s trying to save the planet by transforming it into a Pandoran biosphere.”

Ray narrowed his eyes. “How’s that possible?”

“Unobtanium reserves, gas generators, a dash of nanotech,” Boers listed off, “And no regard for what happens to the rest of the people living on Earth right now.”

“That’s crazy,” Ray said, shaking his head. “I mean, we knew someone was up to something. We have reports coming in of generators going online, trucks on the highway in the middle of the night...that sort of thing. But this? How in the hell did she come up with that plan?”

“Honestly,” Boers said, “I’m not sure what else we can do.” He pulled into the open bay door of the airplane hangar. “I figure most of us are going to die anyway. No food, no water...natural disasters....cancer and disease...a planet full of pollution. I just...I just don’t think setting the reset button is the right way to do it.”

“I don’t either,” Ray said. “That’s why we did what we did.”

“Have you infiltrated other bases?” Boers asked. He turned the key in ignition and pulled the parking brake. 

Ray nodded. “We have a network. All of us were trying to figure out what was going on. Nobody we interrogated knew the reason behind the generators, all they had were their own specific orders.”

“Are you in a position to sabotage the generators?” Boers asked. 

“Some of them,” Ray said. “But not all.”

Through the hangar, and down the elevator to the main base, Boer’s mind was racing. 

_ What happens if we don’t disable all the generators? Or any? _

The elevator doors slid open.

“Daddy!” 

Shelly was running towards him, and his thoughts evaporated. Boers fell to his knees, and drew his daughter in tightly.

“Where were you?” came Shelly’s muffled voice through her tears.

* * *

 

Boers, Shelly, Ray, Donna and the rest seated themselves around Boer’s old conference table.

“I need you to debrief me on everything you know so far,” said Boers.

“Ray brought me up to speed,” Donna said. “We didn’t start as anybody special. We were just a group of people who banded together because we were sick of trying to go it alone. We defended ourselves against rioters and looters like the rest of them for a while. When we realized that the government wasn’t going to help us, we decided to take a bigger perspective.”

“Most of the bases and government buildings were locked up pretty tight in the beginning,” Ray jumped in. “We tried to find some workarounds. We were able to recruit some amateur radio enthusiasts and keep track of the goings on that way.”

“We never picked up on any radio activity,” Boers interjected.

“Did you scan all the bands?” Ray asked skeptically?

“We...”  _ Shit.  _ They’d only been monitoring official channels.  _ That  _ had been quite the oversight. 

“That’s what I thought,” Ray replied. “Don’t feel too bad...there wasn’t a lot of activity going on just outside your doorstep anyway. We were eventually able to coordinate survivors into an organized salvage and recovery mission.”

“Like we said,” Donna continued, “It was never about taking over anything in cold blood. Everyone else was running around like it was the doomsday, and we weren’t getting any instructions. For all we knew, the government had completely collapsed, and everyone had left to save their own skins. I had a feeling those slimeballs were lurking around somewhere.”

“That’s why your base was so appealing to so many people, you see,” Ray added. “The lights were most definitely on over here. We thought you’d have answers.”

“My people didn’t,” Boers said. “At least, not the ones that were left behind. Were there any casualties?”

Donna shifted, uncomfortable. “No casualties. A couple of people injured. We tried to use non-lethal force.”

“Hmm,” Boers said. Although he was enjoying watching these people squirm, he had no interest in making them pay for their crime. They should have let more people into the base. It was Boers and the government that should be paying for their crime of negligence.

_ I shouldn’t have waited to Dawson’s orders. I should have been with these people the entire time. _

“Daddy, can I go read?” Shelly asked.

Boers squeezed her shoulders. “Of course, hon.”

Shelly smiled up at him, then hopped down from her too-large office chair and disappeared into the shadows.

“Thank you for saving her,” Boers said, his voice low.

Ray nodded. “Not a problem.”

Boers ran his fingers through his hair. He usually kept it short, in a buzz cut, but it had grown out over the past few weeks. He felt like he hadn’t had a moment’s rest.

“So I guess we should figure out what our next move is,” Boers ventured.

“I was going to say the same thing,” Donna replied. “I think it would be helpful if you tell us what you learned from your meeting with Dawson.”

Leaning back in his chair, Boers cradles the back of his head in his hands. “Unfortunately, as Ray told you, Dawson has quite the project planned. She’s planning on terraforming the planet in...” Boers checked his digital watch, “30 hours.”

“What?!” Donna exclaimed. “That’s tomorrow night! That’s barely enough time to do anything!”

“I have some colleagues back on the base that can help,” Boers continued, “But we have to be careful in contacting them. They’re waiting on me having a plan before we take the risk.”

“Okay,” Ray said. “What if we just contact Dawson, tell her that we’ve infiltrated her generators, and tell her to call the whole thing off?”

“That’s assuming she believes we can sabotage the whole operation,” Boers said. “And the other thing, you may want to consider whether sabotaging the generators and stopping the project is a good idea in the first place.”

“What do you mean?” Donna was incredulous. “None of us can survive in a Pandoran atmosphere.”

“The bases are self-contained and have air filters,” Boers said. “We have some access to electricity, and oxygen masks. On the other hand, we don’t have a plan for how to salvage Earth’s own ecosystem.”

Ray shook his head. “It’s better than anything else we have right now.”

Boers could sense that the mood in the room had changed. They thought that he’d be on board, one hundred percent, which simply wasn’t true. The truth is, Boers wasn’t sure what to do. It felt like it was too late to do anything about the planet at all. 

How could he raise his daughter in a dying world? Even if life would be difficult for the two of them, it may not be impossible. The next generation would have a chance. On the other hand, what if it didn’t work? What if there was another solution? They were running out of time, fast.

Either way, he knew these people wanted, and how they could help him.

* * *

 

“You’re putting a lot of time in your avatar form,” Dawson observed. 

“I want to get used to it,” Boers said. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.”

Dawson had found him among the plant life in the cavern. She was in human form, face covered with an oxygen mask.

“It’s liberating,” Dawson said. “To be in another body, with capabilities greater than your own.”

“I would expect to feel heavier in Earth’s gravity,” Boers remarked. By earth standards, his body would weigh easily over three hundred, maybe four hundred pounds.

“The carbon fibers reinforcing the avatar’s bones help,” Dawson replied, “or so they tell me. They also say having the body develop in Earth’s atmosphere helps negate the effect of being larger. You’re actually about a foot shorter than the average Na’vi.”

“Huh.” Boers hadn’t thought to measure himself. He’d been...preoccupied with some more pressing tasks.

“I heard about your family,” Dawson said. “You have my condolences.”

A fresh wave of grief ripped through him.  _ Please God, let them be alive when I get to the base. _

“Let me assure you,” Dawson continued, “I will be taking steps to ensure that the compromised base will be taken care of, in time. I’m sure you understand, I’m currently operating with very limited resources. But I’ve asked a lot of you, and I know you’ve suffered as a result of my actions. I’ll bring them to justice, Conrad.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Boers replied.  _ I don’t know what good revenge will do,  _ he considered adding, but decided against it.

“We’re turning on the terraforming generators tomorrow morning,” Dawson said. “After that, things are going to get a lot busier around here. Don’t forget to get some rest.”

As Dawson left, Boers held a nearby leaf in his hand. It looked remarkably like a leaf he might have found in the park as a child.  _ It might just work. All the abilities of plants to contain the carbon in the atmosphere, with the added consciousness of a being who expertly knows how to manage a planet’s climate. _

But what about his wife and children? If they were alive, what kind of life would they be able to lead?  _ What about all the other humans?  _ He knew that his other self must be struggling with this too, no matter where he might be right now. 

_ I can’t be the one to make this choice.  _

Boers walked up the stairs into Dawson’s office. She’d given him a login and full-level security clearance.  _ I’ve read your record,  _ she’d said.  _ Exemplary. And now I need you to help me pull this off. We’re talking about saving the entire planet, after all. _

His fingers flew over the keys on a keyboard designed for larger, na’vi hands. He logged in, and opened up a terminal. His face widened in a smile.

 

> ACCESS PANDORAN BIOTERMINAL? Y/N

 

> Y

 

The screen was filled with a lot of jargon, some of it comprehensible, other parts nonsensical. Then:

 

> WHAT DO YOU WANT, EARTH?

 

Boers keyed in some commands.

 

> SEND ENTIRE DATA PACKAGE? Y/N.

 

All of earth’s history. Vlogs from teenage girls, Beethoven’s music. The oscar-nominated film that had come out last year. Einstein’s theory of relativity. The genetic code of of Earth’s extinct creatures. Everything that humanity was, that they had archived in their own computer databases.

 

> Y

 

> SENDING.

 

“I leave this in your hands, Eywa,” Boers said. 


	45. Chapter 44: Frayed Ends

Chapter Forty-Four: Frayed Ends

Pandora’s sun was only beginning to show signs of returning ot the horizon when they set out. They kept high, higher than they would usually go when they flew into battle. Yorotei knew if the Pa’li clan had decided to fight with the Omaticaya, that they were very vulnerable from the ground.

Hayley and Onu were in the middle of the formation. Yorotei was at the very front, painted in the red and white of the Eastern Ikran clan’s war paint. Just behind him were the warriors most proficient in hand-to-hand combat and melee. The short range archers followed, and Hayley and Onu, part of the long-range, were in the back. 

Yorotei’s voice crackled into Hayley’s earpiece.

“ _ Where are the Pa’li? _ ”

Lucas responded.

“Northwest of the base. They’re waiting for you to come in. Some of them are attempting to knock down the outer wall. I have soldiers stationed on it, trying to fire off some warning shots.”

Hayley repeated the message in the Ikran dialect.

_ “Bank east!”  _ Yorotei shouted, and the cloud of ikrans followed.

“ _ The Mountain clan is coming froom the south _ ,” Hayley said. “Mountain clan, do you copy?”

“We are on our way,” Tseotoe said over throat mike. “Look to the north.”

Hayley stole a glance northwards. There was a dark cloud in the air. 

“I see you!” she yelled.

“ _ And where are the Omaticaya? Are they coming in from the east? _ ” Yorotei asked.

“Yes,” Lucas replied.

Onu looked at Hayley.

“ _ Whatever happens,”  _ Onu said, “ _ Remember that we are together. _ ”

Hayley nodded.

“ _ Bank south!” _ Yorotei said. This brought Hell’s Gate into full view. In the early morning mists, Haley could make out the small figures running about on the ground. Engines whined as the remaining Samsons were being revved for takeoff.

“You have air support?” Hayley asked Lucas.

“Minimal, but they’ll do what they can. We have a decent amount of armored land units - mech suits. We’re trying to mobilize some of the construction equipment too.”

“Keep us posted,” Hayley replied.

“ _ We enter the base and defend it. We do not attack first, _ ” Yorotei transmitted. Then, Hayley heard him cry out, “ _ Descend! _ ”

Dagger and Hayley bowed their heads and drew in their wings as they and the rest of the Eastern Ikran clan went into a dive over Hell’s Gate. Onu cried out, baring her teeth in a war ululation. The rest of the clan joined her, until the air was filled with the eerie sound.

An arrow whizzed by Hayley’s head. They banked, snapping their wings out and coming up and around out of the dive. 

“Where did that come from!” she shouted.

“ _ From over the wall, _ ” Onu shouted back. “ _ The Pa’li clan are attacking! _ ”

  * Let’s get some distance, Hayley told Dagger.
  * They can see us much better than we can see them, Dagger replied.
  * Are you saying we should go under the tree cover? Hayley asked her companion. 
  * Height for safety, closeness for fighting.
  * Then I know what we need to do, Hayley said.



Hayley plunged over the wall of Hell’s Gate and through the forest canopy. They kept high, just under the topmost leaves. The Pa’li clan were mounted, filing through the trees as they rode towards Hell’s gate. They were being held back by a soldiers in mech suits.

_ Not enough,  _ Hayley thought to herself. She readied her bow, and shot. Her arrow hit, knocking one of the clan from their horse. 

Wings pumping, Hayley and Dagger emerged out of the trees. Hayley whooped. The others were following her lead, plunging under the thick tree cover, picking off one or two, then resurfacing. Hayley kept swerving as she saw some of her comrades being shot out of the sky.

An enormous roar resounded through the air. Hayley looked up to see Jake on his fire-orange toruk, plunging down from the sky.

“Oh shit!” Hayley said.  _ They were going to need more firepower to take that toruk down _ . She maneuvered low to the edge of the wall, until she saw what she was looking for.

“Let me take this turret!” Hayley shouted to the soldier below her.

“Are you sure?” the soldier shouted back up to her.

“Have you seen what’s above us?” Hayley said. “Let me take the fight to him!”

“Hayley, how are you doing out there?” Lucas asked.

“A little busy right now,” Hayley said. She gritted her teeth as she wrenched the gun out of the turret. Too large for human hands, it was a perfect fit for her. She launched up into the sky, circling around. Jake’s toruk and the rest of the Omaticaya had the Eastern Ikran clan locked in a dizzying aerial combat. The toruk’s claws dug into the warrior’s ikran, flinging them left and right like a ragdoll.

_ I can’t get a clear shot. _

An Omaticaya screeched as he and his mount descended on her. Hayley aimed, fired. The kickback on the turret gun threw them off balance, but Dagger twisted until they had been righted again. The warrior, limp, fell out of the sky.

From above, though, Hayley was the mountain clan descending down on them. She wrenched her focus away from the sky battle.

_ Yorotei can handle Jake. I need to help the ground units. _

“They’re attacking the weak part of the wall - the gate,” Lucas said. “I can’t get any more people through without opening it.”

After a brief moment where someone translated, Yorotei replied.

“ _ I will send some warriors down to help. _ ”

_ He sounds tired already. Not a good sign.  _

Hayley/Dagger flew back through the canopy. The Pa’li clan was cornering the soldiers that had made it outside the wall. Though they were putting up a good fight, it was clear that they were losing ground and getting dangerously close to being backed up against the wall itself. 

“Follow me!” She yelled. If they could just get to the south side of the complex, they could get to the river, and then, maybe they had a chance of throwing the clan off-guard. Hayley was betting on them not knowing the area well, but on the other hand the Omaticaya did.

_ Let’s hope that Jake doesn’t have as good a coms system as we have. _

_ And where is Onu? _

* * *

 

“Hah!”

Onu swing away from the fallen member of the Omatiaya. It was a shame, fighting other people who shared the same blood as her, but there was no time to think of that now. 

_ Blood doesn’t matter if the blood of Ewya is fighting against what is right. _

Yorotei and the others were circling around Jake, like a group of  _ riti _ swarming around the na’vi trying to steal the eggs from their nest. But the Omaticaya had created their own circle, and were fighting them off. 

_ If they lose Jake, will they continue to fight? If only there was a way to make them see reason.  _

Onu and Eskareil pumped their wings and climbed up towards the fight. The toruk had taken a few arrow hits, that much was clear from the ragged holes in its’ wings. But it was biting and flailing enough to be dealing even more damage back.

She stood on Eskareil and readied her bow, aiming for one of the breathing vents on the side of the toruk’s body. Eskareil screamed, and Onu felt the hot tug of an arrow pierce his body. She dropped her bow as her mount lurched. She clung to him as he fell through the air.

* * *

 

“Sir!” Li said, almost out of breath. He had run to ops from his position inside the wall when the battery in his throat mic failed.

“Yes, Private Li?” Lucas asked.

“The Horse clan has us surrounded. We need to launch the Samsons as soon as possible.”

“Jake and the rest of the Omaticaya are flying right over us,” Lucas said. “Tell the pilots that the need to watch their tails. Was the clan making any progress?”

Li nodded. “Sir, if that’s all, I’m going to suit up and head out there. They need more people on the ground.”

“Be careful out there, Li,” Lucas replied. “There should be a couple of mech suits left. Just make sure you leave one for me.”

_ He’s planning on going out there if things really go to shit,  _ Li realized.

Li nodded and sprinted down the hallway to the mech suit room. The halls were almost empty. Everyone was out fighting, except for a few people in the operations command centre, like Lucas. He swung into an empty mech suit and felt the engine whirr to life. Wiggling his fingers experimentally, then his arms, he stomped out into the main compound.

_ Just survive,  _ he told himself, as he stared at the gate.  _ Then you can go home. _

The main entrance of Hell’s Gate could open to let something a large as a construction machine enter, but there were smaller doors to prevent something like exactly what was happening to compromise the security of the building. Li punched in an access code, and a mech-sized portion of the gate swung open.

He ran through the gate to find the rest of the humans crouching behind logs or around trees, firing off shots where they could. In front of them was a hellish scene. Bodies of direhorses and fallen na’vi were piled up in a circle around them that extended along the length of the huge concrete wall that Li was now on the other side of.

“Holy fuck,” Li exclaimed.

Beyond the pile of bodies, the rest of the Horse clan thundered back and forth on their monstrous, six-legged mounts. They wove in and out, ducking the bullets, while trying to fire off their own volleys. Thankfully, most of the arrows bounced off their mech suits, but the team on the ground was vulnerable.

Li readied his machine gun. Using a nearby tree as cover, he leaned around and fired off a barrage. Two na’vi fell, and Li ducked behind a tree as the arrow splintered the side of the trunk.

“What’s the casualty rate on our side?” Li radioed out to the rest of the crew.

“Twenty percent.” It was the mech unit command leader.  _ What was his name again? Fitzgerald?  _

“Shit. And what about the other side?”

“Hard to tell,” said the squadron leader who Li assumed was Fitzgerald. “They took heavy casualties from the last battle. I don’t think they’re in a mood to lose many more.”

“I know,” said Li, taking another peek. “They’re just running back and forth, taking their shots.” Then a thought occurred to him. “Do you think that they’re doing this for show?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they want to support Jake,” Li explained, “But they aren’t in it one hundred percent.”  
“Either way, we gotta try and push them back,” Fitzgerald interrupted. “Ready soldiers?”  
The others nodded.

“I want us to push forward to that next clearing - say, 100 yards. Do NOT break formation. They  _ will _ surround us. We need to get some space between us and the wall before we get pinned. On my count.”

On three, they charged. Li went up ahead with the rest of the mechs, with the foot soldiers close behind. Li swung his gun left, then right, giving out short bursts that he tried to aim at the na’vi. They fell before him, but so did the mech on his left with a well-placed arrow. 

He’d never fought like this before. His stint in the middle-east had been completely different - the enemy was armed with the same kind of equipment he had. In the air, it was clear that the na’vi could at least hold their ground in aerial combat, but on the ground, all that was evening the odds was sheer numbers. 

Li took another step over a fallen log and came face to face with a female na’vi who had her bow cocked right at him. He lunged to the right, firing at her as he went down. She was knocked backward off her horse and disappeared into the brush.

He tried to rise to his feet, and was knocked down again when a huge wave of heat knocked him down from behind. 

“What was that?”

* * *

 

“Ahh!”

Dagger and Hayley twisted to try to reorient themselves in the heat of explosion. One of the larger aircraft had been taken down by a concerted effort by the Omaticaya. It had crashed down directly on the outer wall of Hell’s Gate.

“No...” Hayley said. “NO!”

She watched as dozens of member of the Pa’li clan began to flood into the compound. They mowed down the few soldiers who stood in their way with their arrows and mounts. Pa’li leapt up on construction equipment, their weapons stores...

* * *

 

Neytiri climbed the roots of the tree of souls. Her face was tear-streaked. In her hands, she held a small doll woven from grass. 

She knelt within the roots. As she looked up at the gnarled ancient trunk, she thought about all of those who had passed through the Eye of Eywa before her. How many had done it by choice, like Jake? Jake had his own reasons, and now Neytiri had hers. 

Placing the doll beside her, Neytiri lay herself into the roots so that they surrounded her body, as if she herself were in the womb as well. 

_ I am sorry, Jake. I could not bear this empty child, who made my world empty.  _

She thought about Jake, fighting his battle against the humans. Was he really no longer a human himself? She thought that he could be one of the people, but the child inside her was a testament to the gravity of that mistake. It was too late for her now. Like the vows Jake had told her about from his home world -  _ till death do us part. _

_ Eywa, I give my life to you. _

Neytiri brushed her queue along the roots until they took hold. She closed her eyes and plunged into the link.


	46. Chapter 45: I See You

Chapter Forty-Five: I See You

Onu opened her eyes to see the leafy canopy far above. She could hear the distant shouts from the battlefield. The cracking of bullets and the drone of the engines of their flying tools. She had to get back there and find Hailei, defend her people from Jake’s crazed rage.

Eskareil was lying on top of her. She pushed with both hands, a growl escaping from deep in her throat with the effort. Her body slid forward by about an inch until she had to stop, lying panting on the forest floor. Tears seeped out from the corners of her eyes.

_ I am sorry that you had to sacrifice your life over such foolishness, Eskareil.  _

From where she lay, she could just make out the edge of his antennae. It was covered in the gauzy residue of the linkage that would have enabled him to cross over into the Eye of Eywa. 

_ Fly on, brother. _

Onu steeled herself, then pushed again.

“Aaaagh!”

She gained another inch, but a pain in her ribs flared into life. Onu stopped and collapsed again onto her back. The pain seemed to follow a ring around her midsection, then stopped around her hips. It then dawned on her that she couldn’t feel anything beneath her hips.

“ _ No..” _

Onu pushed again at her fallen friend. The strength of her limbs was no fueled by desperation and a cold fear that had poured over her. One inch turned to two, than three, until Onu had freed her legs down to the knee. Propping herself up on one hand, she touched the skin of her thigh.

Nothing.

“ _ Please, no, Ewya...” _ Onu moaned. Then the pain surged again and she lay back down on the mercifully soft earth.

Without her legs, she could not be one of the people.

“ _ Please...please, no... _ ”

* * *

 

Hayley ducked and swerved to avoid an explosion as a crate of ammunition burst into flames with a resonant boom. 

“Status report!” Lucas was raising his voice now. That wasn’t a good sign.

“We’re trying to take them out as fast as we can,” Hayley said. She took aim, and mowed down a line of Pa’li riders. 

“You need to get the ones that are trying to break through the airlock,” Lucas insisted.

“Right.”

Hayley screamed as an ikran slammed into the ground beside her, pinning its’ bloodied rider underneath.

_ This has gone on too long,  _ she thought.  _ No one can get close to the toruk makto.  _ Jake’s band of warriors may have less sophisticated weapons, but Jake knew the enemy well. They drew the fire of the Samsons while other warriors descended on high, smashing into the windows and taking them down. There were maybe one or two left - it was hard to tell. And far above, Jake circled, picking off more of them.

“Lucas,” Hayley said, gripping the throat mike. “Do you have any ground-to-air missiles?”

“There are none left,” Lucas said. “We’re throwing everything we’ve got at them.”

Hayley felt an acid ball forming in her gut as she realized that the Omaticaya and Pa’li clans were turning the tide. 

“ _ Hailei, _ ” Yorotei radioed, “ _ Come help us in the air.” _

But Hayley felt frozen.

    * _I don’t know what to do,_ she told Dagger.



 

  * __Then ask,_ Dagger said._


  * _Ask?_



 

Dagger swerved, flew over the wall of Hell’s Gate.

 

  * __Where are you taking us?__


  * _To the asking place._



* * *

 

 

_ Do you feel that? It’s the tower. The humans are sending us something large. Listen and see. _

_... _

_... _

_ Grace, what is the meaning of this? _

_ > Christ almighty. We have Neytiri in the Eye, and now this. _

_ > What did I tell you, Grace? Everything’s going to shit. _

_ > Enough, Quartich. We need to settle this. Things are getting too chaotic. _

_ > And how do you propose we do that? _

_ > We need to stop them - wait, who is that? _

_ “It’s me, Grace. It’s Hayley.” _

_ “Hayley - what are you doing here?” _

_ “I need your help, Grace. There are so many people dying out there. Even Neytiri...I couldn’t feel her pulse when I got to the tree...” _

_ “Okay, okay, calm down, soldier.” _

“ _ Let me asking you something, hon,”  _ Quaritch said.  _ “When you helped those blue monkeys take over our base the first time, did you think for a second that this very scenario could happen?” _

Quaritch. It was Quaritch, Hayley thought, and he was still within Eywa, just like Grace was. And he was right. Hayley had gone in, guns blazing, not thinking about the potential consequences of the earlier battle on humanity as a whole. And now, because they had tried to save Eywa, the earth was dying. 

_ “Enough, Quaritch,”  _ Grace interjected. 

“ _ Why is he still here?” _ Hayley asked.

“ _ The balance, _ ” Grace said, resigned.  _ “Eywa has a planet-wide mind, larger than any of ours, but I guess it’s no surprise how similar it is to ours in some ways. We all have our demons, Hayley - impulses telling us to do things we think we don’t want to do. But we do, because they  _ are  _ a part of us too, and they matter.” _

“ _ I find that hard to believe, _ ” Hayley said, dumbfounded.

_ “Believe it or not, sweetheart, I’m still kickin’, _ ” Quaritch laughed.

_ “Eywa is deciding what to do with the information she’s received from Earth,”  _ Grace continued.  _ “She’s asked me to help in deciding what to do with it.” _

_ “What information?”  _ Hayley asked.

“ _ Someone has sent the entire Earth information archives,”  _ Grace said. 

_ “What? Why did they do that?”  _ Hayley asked.

_ “One last-ditched attempt to get you people to listen to reason!” _ Quaritch interjected.

_ “Hayley. _ ” Grace’s voice was coming from nowhere and everywhere.  _ “There are two minds merging in Eywa right now. You need to get out of here, before you get overwhelmed.” _

_ “I don’t understand,”  _ Hayley said. 

_ “Just GO!”  _ Grace said.

Hayley delinked. As she did, she heard Quaritch laugh echoing through her synapses.

“ _ You are awake. _ ”

It was Neytiri, looking blearily at her though narrowed eyes.

“Neytiri!” Hayley crouched at Neytiri’s side.  _ “I thought you were dead.” _

“ _ I passed through the Eye of Eywa with my child, _ ” Neytiri said. She smiled faintly. “ _ Eywa has given him a soul. _ ”

There was a great noise in the trees around them. Hundreds of ikran were launching themselves into the sky.  
“ _And Eywa has heard you,_ ” Neytiri told Hayley. Her face then stiffened in pain.

“ _ Neytiri, are you all right?” _ Hayley asked. 

“ _ I do not know, _ ” said Neytiri. Hot tears spilled from the sides of her eyes. “ _ I need my Jake. _ ”

* * *

 

It wasn’t the first time Boers had a gun pointed to his head, but it was the first time it’d been the president of the United States. 

“What did you do!?” Dawson’s forehead was pulled taught, eyes blazing with fury. Her avatar’s tail flicked back and forth. Her upper lip curled just slightly to reveal a hint of an incisor. 

Boers stepped away from the console, hands on either side of his head.

“I trusted you,” Dawson hissed. “An exemplary soldier. Showed loyalty, right until the end. Who are you talking to? How much did they buy you for!?”

“Ma’am, what’s going on?” Several people dressed in military fatigues had caught on, and had aimed their own guns at Boers.

“He’s sent a massive information transmission. Find the source, now!” she barked.

“It was a transmission to Pandora,” a nearby female avatar said. 

“Why did you do it?” Dawson snapped.

Boers shook his head.

“It was the only way.”

“The only way to do what, exactly?”

“To save humanity,” Boers said. “Eywa needs to know who we are. She’s the only one that can help us now.”

“I was trying to help us,” Dawson said. “That was the entire point of the terraforming project!” Then, she lowered the gun. “I’m done talking with him. Lock him up until we get to the bottom of who he was actually communicating with. 

“Ma’am, there’s an incoming transmission from Pandora.” it was the avatar at the nearby console again.

“At Hell’s Gate?” Dawson asked. Meanwhile, the soldiers were approaching to cuff Boers.

“No...it’s Ewya.”

“What?” Dawson was incredulous. “Can you put it on display?”

“There...there’s a video feed,” said the female with surprise. She hit a few switches.

At first, the screen bloomed into a kaleidoscope of indiscernible colours. It reminded Boers of the antique TV static he used to see on his grandmother’s set, except each pixel was a wild neon frenzy. The colour began to slowly manifest into more concrete shapes and patterns.

“It’s a machine learning algorithm,” a male avatar in a lab coat said. “An...organic algorithm. Remarkable.”

“We’ve heard you, Commander Boers.” It was warped, incomplete still, but it sounded like Grace. “President Dawson,” Grace acknowledged her with a small smirk. “You look different.”

“Yes, Grace.” To her credit, the president was taking this new development, this new...iteration of Eywa, in stride. “The avatar project is going quite well. In fact, we were about to begin the process of re-terraformation.”

“You didn’t tell us that you were planning on building avatars on Earth, nor that you were going to reshape the Earth into a new Pandora,” Grace said. The smirk had disappeared.

“We did the best we could, under the circumstances,” Dawson said. “Something I’m trying to convince my colleague here of at the moment.”

“I’m not surprised that you, the government, tried to collaborate with us while keeping critical information hidden,” Grace continued. “If I had the technological knowledge he just sent me, we could have solved this problem months ago. Instead, you’ve been sending me on a wild goose chase, telling the na’vi to pick goddamn plants.” Grace shook her head.

_ How long has the government been in contact with Eywa?  _ Boers wondered. 

“I’m sorry Boers,” Grace said. “According to the data you’ve sent me, the carbon dioxide in your atmosphere has been steadily increasing over the past year or so. If your people had worked with us before, we might have been able to find a different way. But in this case, the president is right. It makes sense to release sufficient xenon and hydrogen sulfide to round out the atmosphere. From there, I can get to work.”

“My daughter and wife could still be alive out there!” Boers exclaimed.

“Blame Dawson,” Grace said. “I’ve tried to take as many refugees as I can. But if your people couldn’t make it to a consciousness transfer station, there’s nothing I can do. Tell the people that are still alive that they need to hide in places where they can survive for long enough that they can merge with me when the time comes.”

“What time is that?” Dawson asked.

“When I’ve grown a second mind,” Grace/Ewya said, with another smile, this time not a smirk but one of anticipation.

“So this is it,” Boer said out loud, to himself more than anyone else who was in that room. “The end of humanity.”

Grace shook her head. “No Conrad...this is the beginning.”


	47. Chapter 46: Blindness

Chapter Forty-Six: Blindness

“ _ Where are they going? _ ” Hayley asked Neytiri.

“ _ They are going to stop the fighting, _ ” Neytiri said. “ _ You need to get to Jake and bring him here before it is too late. _ ”

_ If the ikran get to Jake,  _ Hayley thought,  _ They’ll try to kill him. He was the one that started this in the first place. _

“ _ I don’t want to leave you here, _ ” Hayley said.

“ _ You need to. _ ” Neytiri said. She placed a hand on Hayley’s arm. “ _ Please bring Jake here. _ ”

Hayley nodded. She took off at a run, swung over onto Dagger, and launched into the sky. She joined the flock of ikran that careened around them.

* * *

 

“Oh, shit!”

Norm crouched low on Vee as he dodged a flaming Samson as it spun out of control. He heard a vague crackling around his throat mike, but couldn’t make it out. 

“Repeat!”

“Norm, you need to get to Jake,” Hayley said. “I’m on my way, but there’s not a lot of time left. Eywa is sending her children to kill him and...Neytiri...I think she’s into labour.”

“Shit!” Norm yelled to himself. He gripped his throat mike. “I’m going up there, wish me luck.”

“Come on, Vee,” he said to his friend and companion. Together, they wove their way through the fray. It was obvious that, by this point, both parties were becoming tired. Each side were losing people. The only factor tipping the scales was the ground battle. The pa’li clan was trashing the base, attacking any system that looked important. As soon as the Eastern Ikran and Mountain Clans tried to swing down to attack them, they became trapped between the ground and the sky.

Jake was still fighting. His toruk was stuck with several arrows, and while they were limping through the sky, Jake was keeping a tight enough formation, though, that he was still able to pose a threat to them. 

“Here goes,” Norm said.

“ _ Norm! Fall back! _ ” Ninat swung into view - perched on Uai’he, she was a fury in war paint, but her eyes were wide with concern for him. Her shoulder was bloodied from a grazed arrow.

“ _ I have to talk to him,”  _ Norm shouted back. He tossed her his bow, and she fumbled in surprise but was able to catch it. “ _ Eywa is coming. _ ”

“ _ Let Ewya exact her justice then! _ ” She exclaimed.

“ _ I can’t. _ ” Norm said. “ _ He’s still my friend. _ ”

Norm raised his hands, and he and Vee positioned themselves so that they were facing the swirling vortex of Omaticaya that had been tearing through the other clans.

“Jake!”

Some of them went to shoot, and then recognized him. Others were still readying their bow.

“ _ Wait. Do not attack him. _ ”

Jake, perched atop his toruk, moved through the air until he was eye to eye with Norm.

“Norm, you left the clan last night. You’d better make it quick.”

“I will, Jake,” Norm responded. “Neytiri is in labour. She’s at the tree of souls. You need to stop this and go.”

“You’re trying to distract me,” Jake said. “I’m going to see this through to the end.”  
“What happened to you, Jake?” Norm snapped. “You know that you were a human, once. Don’t lead your people to all this bloodshed. You know that the humans can do good here.”

Jake shook his head. 

“No. Their way of life can’t coexist with ours. I’m sorry, Norm.”

“Eywa thinks differently!” Norm yelled at him. “Her children are coming for your people. Stop this now before more of you die.”

“MORE LIES!” Jake roared. “If you were still a dreamwalker I would shoot you where you are. Leave now, and don’t make me regret this.”  
Norm shook his head.

“I’m not giving up on you, Jake. I know you’re hurt. I know you think this is your fault, the fault of your human side. But Neytiri needs you. This planet needs you to turn your anger away from your grief. Please.”  
Jake looked at him. His lower lip stiffened.  
“War is hell, Norm. But there’s always a reason for it. I want to be on the right side this time.”

With that, the chief of the Omaticaya loosed an arrow at Norm. It landed in his right shoulder. Norm spun off Vee and through the air.

A shadow fell over Jake’s face. Before he could look up to see what it was, Ninat was grappling with him. His Toruk lunged sideways as he fought to keep the hand with the knife from getting close to him.  
“Skxawng! Pxasik!” Ninat screamed at him. Pulling a side dagger from a leather belt, Ninat stabbed him once, then again, between the ribs. 

Jake’s toruk lurched again, and Jake finally looked up to see dozens of ikran falling through the sky onto the Omaticaya warriors, snarling and biting. Ninat launched herself from him, tumbling through the air towards the jungle below.

“No!” Hayley shouted. She watched in the distance as Jake and his mount tumbled through the air and into Hell’s Gate.

* * *

 

_ “Norm, you need to get to Jake. I’m on my way, but there’s not a lot of time left. Eywa is sending her children to kill him and...Neytiri. I think she gone into labour.” _

_ “Shit! I’m going up there, wish me luck.” _

Li was backed into a corner. He heard the transmissions, followed up the sound of a cacophonic chorus of ikran screams.

_ What the fuck is happening up there? _

A horse clan warrior was rearing up in front of him. Li shot and the direhorse kicked out in response, shattering the glass on the outer layer of the mech suit. Warning bells began to sound out and the hiss of escaping oxygen kicked Li’s adrenaline into overdrive. He stumbled back, trying to avoid the onslaught of four pairs of front hooves and a screaming na’vi male in warpaint holding a spear. 

Li brought his first around and it made solid contact with the direhorse. Male and horse fell to the side. Li turned and ran. He smashed the airlock button on a nearby wall with his suit hand, took a huge gulp of the remaining air, and pressed the eject button.

The front compartment clipped open with a hiss and a bang, and Li leapt out of his mechanical suit. Running inside, he pressed the door close button.

_ Come on, come on. _

“Twenty seconds to atmospheric exchange. Nineteen....eighteen...”

His lungs were beginning to burn. Closed his eyes, trying to ignore the golden sparks that began to flash in their corners.

“Three...two...one...conversion complete.”

Li collapsed to the ground, drinking in huge swallows of air.

“Jesus fuck...”

His body protesting, Li crawled, then ran, through the hallways until he was in the main avatar room. He leapt into one of the operating compartments, flipped the switches, then settled his head into the soft green body mold.

_ Please, let it still be alive. _

The world went black.

The first thing Li heard when he came out through the wire was shouting and banging.

“We need more beds!”

As he came to, Li took in the situation. The avatars trapped in the sleeping quarters had barricaded the front entrance with as many beds and other items of furniture as they possibly could. In addition to the avatars, several marines were pacing though the building.

“What’s going on here?” Li asked.

One of the marines shook her head. “We’re trapped in here. There were just too many of them.”

“They’ve stopped banging on the door,” one of the avatars shouted.

Li approached the barricade. It was hard to make much out, but Li could hear growls, followed by screams.

“Eywa sent some of the animals to fight with us,” Li said.

“Why would it do that?” asked the female marine.

“I’m not sure,” Li said. For whatever reason, Eywa’s on our side now. And we need to get a medical team to the tree of souls. Is there a medic in here?”

“I am,” said a male avatar. Li recognized him as Oscar Jones, from sickbay. He’d been given an avatar body to serve as field medic when they went on stints outside the compound.  

“Let’s get this barricade open and have a look around,” Li said. 

They decided to part the barricade in the middle, so that they could push it together quickly if there was still trouble. Li cracked the door open.

The view outside was a mess of fallen direhorses and na’vi, along with stalking thanators. Further ahead, the last of the pa’li were fleeing though the hole in the wall that had been blown into it earlier on. 

“Hah! We did it!” Li shouted. The rest of the group from the compound cheered. 

Li turned around. “All right team, let’s get to Neytiri - “

With that, Li’s avatar plunged to the ground. One by one, the rest of the avatars dropped, as the marines looked on in horror.

* * *

 

Onu stirred, having drifted into unconsciousness for a moment. Her ears twitched with the sound that had woken her up. 

“Say that again, doctor?” It was Hayley’s voice.

_ Hailei... _

“We’ve lost life support in the base. They must have taken out at least one of our generators in the attack,” Dr. Lucas radioed in.

“Do you have backup power?” Hayley asked.

“Working on it,” Lucas said. “Now that the horse clan has retreated, we can have a look at the damage and access the backup generator.”

“God, this is a mess,” Hayley said. “I’m going down to see if Jake is still alive.”

A shadow fell over her body. Onu looked up and saw the dark face of a palulukan looking into hers, taking in her scent.

She knew that there was no time to scream. It would eat her, and it would be over. At least in her death she could feed one of Ewya’s children. That was the way of things.

Instead, the palulukan moved down the length of her body and inspected the form of Eskareil as it lay in a bloody heap. It nosed at his body, then the palulukan gave a great growling heave with its’ head. Eskareil lifted, bit by bit.

Onu scrabbled at the ground, inching further and further out, until the palulukan released Eskareil. His body rolled back onto the ground a few inches in front of Onu.

“ _ Why are you saving me? _ ” Onu asked. 

The palulukan returned to her, and bowed its head in response. She tentatively reached out to grasp hold of its antennae. When the creature showed no signs of resistance, Onu lowered the link to her own. Tendrils grasped hold of each other, and they were linked.

* * *

 

Hayley landed on the tarmac of Hell’s Gate and de-linked from Dagger. There would have been a crowd around Jake, except the palulukan had driven the rest of the Omaticaya off. Jake’s toruk was coated in streaks of blood, one wing stuck out at an odd angle. But still, he was kicking and roaring. Hayley took her dagger from its’ sheath.

“Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi irayo. Ngari hu Eywa salew tirea, tokx 'ì'awn slu Na'viyä hapxì,” she recited, the na’vi death prayer.  _ I see you, brother, and I thank you. Your spirit will run with Eywa, while your body will remain and become part of the People. _

Hayley stuck the knife into the soft skin near the toruk’s chest. As the dagger reached his heart, the toruk roared, then its thrashing became less and less, until it was finally still. 

“Jake,” Hayley called. He was lying on his side, blood smeared over the tarmac. She knelt over him placing a hand over his chest. He was still breathing, albeit shallowly.

“Dr. Lucas,” she called, holding her throat mike. “We need a medical team up here asap.”

“Unfortunately,” Dr. Lucas said, “All our medics are occupied right now. You’re going to need to hold tight.”

Hayley pounded the asphalt with a first in frustration. 

“You can’t die on me now, Jake.”

She reached into a pouch under Dagger’s heaving flank. As field medical kits went, it was a bit more rudimentary that what she was used to, but it would have to do. She began tearing off strips of cloth to staunch his bleeding.

“Jake...” Hayley said. “Can you hear me?” She pushed the fabric into his side, where the two stab wounds shone red on his blue skin. Jake furrowed his brow and moaned.

“That’s it,” Hayley soothed. “You have to stay with me, for Neytiri.”

 


	48. Chapter 47: The Cross Finale

Chapter Forty-Seven: The Cross Finale

Ray leaned against a concrete wall and looked up at the dark morning sky. Every morning was dark these days, and almost every one of them was cloudy with smog. 

After all this time and all the suffering, he couldn’t believe that Boers would consider the Pandoraforming plan for even a second. He had a little daughter, for Christ sake. The base would be able to filter the air and they had some supplies to last them a few months, but how long would that go on?

_ God, hope the others get to the generator in time. _

* * *

 

“Mornin, Shelly,” Donna greeted her as she and Boers entered the mess hall. 

“So did you do it?” Boers said by way of greeting.

“Do what?”

“Take down the generators.”

“They’re on their way,” Donna said.

“And what are we going to do if we manage to succeed?”

Donna tried to keep a calm composure. She smiled, though the effort of it was a strain on her face.

“We’re going to do the best we can to save the planet for humanity.”   
“Daddy, what are the generators?”

Boers knelt down and took his daughter by the shoulders.

“Hon, I should have told you this already, but...some people want to turn this planet into another planet like Pandora.”

“The child’s too young for this,” Donna cautioned.

Boers snapped his head around to look at her from over his shoulder.

“She’s been born into this world. She needs to know.”

“Does that mean all the air is going to turn bad?” Shelly asked. “I guess it’s already bad, right?”

“Yes and no,” Boers said. “Pollution made our air bad to breathe. It took a lot of money and energy to clean it all the time, especially when the trees died. We went to Pandora to mine for the metal that helps make energy, but it didn’t work, and then our air got dirtier and dirtier. It scared people. But now, the president thinks that turning the air into Pandoran air will allow plants to grow again, and the plants will clean the air. Then we can have animals again, too.”

“But we can’t breathe that air,” Shelly said. “

“I know, hon, that’s the problem.”

“Incoming transmission from the San Fran team,” said a nearby man at a console.

“What’s going on?” asked Donna.

The man flipped a switch and a group of faces came into view. The link was lo-fi, but it was holding.

“Donna, is that you?” one the of the men in the crew asked.

“It is,” Donna said. “What did y’all find? Were you able to sabotage the generators?”

“We made it to the generator,” the man continued. “But there was a voice that was on the speakers, all around us. I think you ought to hear it.”

The view changed as the man held the camera away from him. He was inside an old factory. In front of him, a machine that had been cobbled onto its’ original workings - that of an air purifier. The machine crackled into life, just as a voice echoed through the room.

“You are about to witness the birth of something extraordinary. Do not fear. The earth lost its mother, but it can be found again. Gaia will find you. Those who still walk the earth will be taken into her embrace and live within her until they can be born anew.”

“What is this?” Donna asked.

“Another faction?” Boers said to himself. “I thought...I thought I was supposed to be stopping this.”

“I’m going to try and disable the air exchanger,” the man on the video chat said. Boers, Shelly and Donna watched the camera draw closer.

“Just let me - “

The lights grew bright. The camera dropped to the floor as the three of them heard the men screaming.

“Shelly, get out of here,” Boers said. “You don’t need to see this.”

“Daddy, what happened to those people?” Shelly’s voice was tremulous. A tear or two began to drip down her face silently. “Daddy, are we all going to die?”

Boers picked Shelly up and walked briskly out of the room. Donna sat blank-faced as she listened to the group on the other side of the screen suffocating to death.

“Daddy, what are you doing?”

Boers put Shelly down on her bed. He knelt in front of her.

“Hon...I need you to lock the door and hide under the bed until I come back.”

“Why?” Shelly asked.

Boers shook his head. “We need to get out of here. Once they realized the plan failed, they might hurt you and me. Don’t open the door for anybody else, understand?”

“Okay,” Shelly nodded.

Her father drew her into a prolonged hug. 

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through all of this, but it’s going to be okay. I’m going to make it okay.”

With that, Boers left the bedroom and locked the door behind him. He took a left, then a right, then went down a set of stairs that lead deeper into the base. Punching in a key code, a door slid open. He grabbed a dolly and began throwing in supplies...two oxygen masks, canned food and rations, a couple of rifles. He took the supplies up the elevator shaft to the main entrance.

_ Maybe you could stay here with her. _

He opened the door. The air here was still fresh, for now. Boers had no idea how long it would take for the process to have a noticeable effect.

_ Ewya wants to transform the planet. She’s managed to get control of our systems.  _

Boers unlocked the back of one of their mobile survey vehicles. It had an air purification system, as well as a set of cots, hot plate, even a septic tank.

_ Where are you going to take her? _ He didn’t know yet, but he needed to get out here. Right now. As enticing as it was to stay in the base, these people would continue to fight back against Dawson. And he wasn’t getting Shelly caught in the crossfire. Besides, if Dawson ever found him here...

There would be other places where people had built emergency shelters. Boers had an idea of where to look. 

Pocketing one of his rifles, Boers took the elevator downstairs again.

“Hon.”

Shelly opened the door. 

“Why are you wearing a mask?”

“I need you to put this on.” Boers pulled out a bulletproof vest and space oxygen mask from a duffle bag on his shoulder.

She put them on, not protesting, but instead beginning to tremble in fear again.

Boers took her up the elevator shaft and opened the car door. Shelly scrambled in and he closed it. Jogging over to the control panel, he punched in the correct key sequence, and the door slid open. As he made his way back to the car, he heard a voice cry out:

“Conrad - what are you doing?”

Without thinking, Boers pulled his gun out and leveled it at Ray.

“Hands up, keep them where I can see them!”

Ray obliged. Boers patted him down, found his rifle, and threw it to the side. It clattered far out of reach. Then, he backed up.

“My daughter and I are leaving.”

“I don’t understand,” Ray was babbling. “We saved her! Why are you treating us like this?”  
“We’re not safe here,” was all that Boers repeated. _Did he not know what had just happened?_

“Thank you for saving her. I mean it, I really do. If you were all smart, though, you’d get out of here while you can.”

“Why’s that?” Ray asked, incredulous.

“The generators are running. Your people failed. Check the videofeed. The government’s going to come looking for the people who tried to sabotage the machines. And if they find me, a government official, was involved...”

“Alright, alright, I get that,” Ray acquiesced. “But why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”

“Nothing personal,” Boers said. “But you would have found out sooner or later. If I’m right, there’s a chance that I was the reason the project failed. I was on the fence, but part of me knew...that there was no other hope. Anyway, I’ve said enough. Just let me and my daughter leave, and you won’t have any trouble from us again.”

Boers lowered his gun and holstered it.

“How long?” 

“What?” Boers asked.

“How long until the planet is no longer livable?” asked Ray.

“I’m not sure,” Boers replied.

“It’s not going to be safe out there for a little girl,” Ray said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. Are you sure you don’t want to take your chances here?”

Boers shook his head.

“Once they find out that I’m here, they’ll come after me. I’m sorry. I know you all wanted to fight to protect the earth, but...anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Please let me out.”

Ray hesitated for a moment. Then, turning his back, he made his way over to the front gate.

“Where are we going, daddy?” Shelly asked. 

Boers gripped the steering wheel. 

“Somewhere where we can survive for another day.”

  
  
  



	49. Chapter 48: Epilogue

Chapter Forty-Eight: Epilogue

How the world has changed.

Three months ago, we fought for the future of humanity. My love was injured, paralyzed below the waist. But we have been working with Eywa to determine a treatment that will restore her spine. Using Gaia’s medical database, it shouldn’t take long to create a biological treatment. Norm is also recovering well. His broken leg has healed straight and true with help from Mo’at and the medical team at Hell’s Gate. 

I wish Jake had survived, but within Eywa, he came around to see the potential of humans to collaborate with Eywa and the na’vi to create a new world. A world that isn’t dependent on nonrenewable resources, of killing their planets to sustain their life for another day. Eywa has extended her reach into the Omaticaya’s new home tree, so that he can watch his daughter growing up.

There were other casualties...my friend, Li Siyu. I can hear him in Eywa’s chorus, too. One day, he hopes to travel to Gaia to search for his parents. He doesn’t think they survived the rebirth, but he wants to try. I reassured him, saying that Hell’s Gate has received multiple transmissions from survivors living in underground bunkers. Some of them have even been receiving limited solar power from Gaia. Imagine their surprise when they saw the thick, insulated tendrils of biomodified vines wrapped around their generators and energy supplies.

Humans spent so much time trying to emulate processes that already happened in nature. If we had had a bioconsciousness like Ewya, we could have told her what we needed from the beginning. The the power of thousands of minds and the ability to be aware of and alter the design of the plant and animal life around her, Ewya is integrating our technological advances into her sustainable ecosystem every day. Even the mountain clan told us that they’ve spotted huge fields of solar-generating flat-leaved grasslands, shining silver in the jungle light.

Onu and I visit Queen Neytiri from time to time. Her child still has that intense stare. We wonder who is in there - it’s not Grace, we still hear her. Maybe it’s Trudy? Another human lost in the rebirth? Since we shared the code for replicating avatars with Ewya, more and more hunters have stumbled across avatars, lying in the fetal position, a plantlike umbilical cord attached. They say the same will happen with Gaia, once she’s grown to envelop the Earth. Almost all of the remaining humans at Hell’s Gate have performed the consciousness transfer. Once all of them have become na’vi, Lucas plans to flood the centre with Pandoran atmosphere and kill the unobtanium generators.

I can’t imagine what the world will look like five, ten, twenty, a hundred years from now. Maybe we’ll find a way to make it back to space, spread Eywa’s seeds so that her sisters can flourish on a hundred different worlds. An interconnected living network that spans the constellations.

For now, all I can do is join the other scientists in discovering new and wonderful ways to use the human influence to help in the new technological advances that both of our mothers are making. That, and try to repay the kindness that Onu first offered me in as many ways as I can. Speaking of which, we have a date at her favourite oasis coming up, so I’d better stop writing for now.

_ Hayley out. _


End file.
